Rising Fire
by sharkboy572
Summary: Nicholai was alone and without purpose for as long as he can remember until he was found by Natsu, a Fairy Tail wizard, who takes him under his wing as a wizard after Nicholai joins Fairy Tail. Nicholai excels as a wizard and is soon nominated for the s-class wizard exam.
1. Rescue

I was alone, purely and simply alone. No family, no friends, no one to turn to. I had no purpose; I was just a body walking on this Earth, waiting for the end. Then, one day, he found me, and he saved me from myself. The stranger said, "Hey, are you okay?" No one had ever bothered to notice me, much less talk to me with concern, but this person; he was different than all of the others. "Sure, but I am actually really hungry, do you have any food?" I asked. "Yeah," he said as he reached into his pouch, handing me some bread, he said, "Here you go, eat this." I said," Thanks, who are you?" He responded, " I am Natsu, Natsu Dragneel, and you? What is your name?" I said, "I am Nicholai, Nicholai Kasai. Thank you Natsu, but I really have troubled you for long enough, I should get going." Natsu then exclaimed, "Don't be ridiculous, I don't mind helping you. Speaking of which, why are you out here all alone?" Surprised with his warmth towards me, I tried to answer him, but the moment I thought about my own predicament I started to cry, and the only thing I could manage to say was, "Not a day goes by, where I don't ask myself the same question." I started to fall over in sadness, but then he caught me and said," Yeah, I think I know what you are going through, the loneliness, the sadness, you are the same as when I first lost Igneel. He was my only friend, he was my only family, and then he left. I had nothing to do, nowhere to go, but then I found Fairy Tail. They became my family; they were the only things in my life that mattered to me. So come with me, and find your new family in Fairy Tail." I couldn't say anything except; "I can't thank you enough, Natsu, for being the first one to care for me, for giving me a future, for being my only friend when no one else was, and for saving me from my own darkness."

*TIMESKIP the next day*

"So," I said, "This is Fairy Tail?" "Yep!" said Natsu. "For some reason, I thought people would treat each other more like family rather than beating themselves half to death, but at least they are high spirited" I said as I stared at the utter chaos that was the guildhall. "Don't worry about it," Natsu said, "they're just messing around like they always do." A short old man approached us and said, "Hi, I am Makarov, the guild master, and who might you be?" "I am Nicholai Kasai, Natsu found me and brought me here," I said in response. "Well, as the guild master, I welcome you to Fairy Tail, if you do wish to join," Makarov said. "Thank you sir, I would like that very much." "Alright," Makarov said," Where would you like your guild mark, and what color would you like?" "I would like a brown mark, and could I have it right below my right shoulder?" I said. "Sure, no problem," said Makarov, "and if you don't mind me asking, what magic do you use?" I said, "Oh, um, I don't really know any magic yet." "Don't worry about that," Natsu said," I can teach you dragonslayer magic." "Really?" I asked, "You don't mind?" "Of course not, I have already helped you this much. Why stop?" Natsu exclaimed. For one of the first times in my life, I smiled and said "Thanks Natsu! When can we start?" "Right now, let's go to my house so we don't disturb anyone!" He said excitedly. On the way there, Natsu asked me a question. "Nicholai, if it is okay that I ask, what exactly happened to leave you all alone?" I said, "I honestly have been alone for as long as I can remember. Barely getting by, I was living for nothing and no one, and living without a purpose is one of the worst ways to live. You and the rest of the guild are my first family, and I cannot thank you enough for everything that you have done for me. But let's not focus on that now; I am happy now that I am in Fairy Tail with you and everyone else." Wow, Natsu thought, when I was alone I found people like Igneel or my friends in Fairy Tail, but he's been alone all this time. It must have really been tough for him, and I can't even begin to understand the full extent of his suffering, so helping him like this is the least I can do.

They approached what looked like a small cottage as Natsu said, "All right, we're here, so lets start your training." "Ok, what's first?" I said. "First thing to do is build up your resistance to fire," Natsu said as he made fire appear in his hand," Ok now gradually get closer and closer to the fire as your body gets used to it." I was only at most two yards away from it and the heat was already tremendous, but surprisingly it wasn't taking very long for my boy to get used to it. Even Natsu seemed dumbfounded as I was standing inches away from the flame within a matter of minutes. "Okay, now I am going to surround you with the flame until you aren't bothered by it anymore. Slowly but surely, over the course of about an hour he became used to the flames. "Wow Nicholai, you really are getting through this training fast, getting to this stage in the training took almost an entire day for me." Natsu said, "But now it is going to get tough. I am going to use my fire dragon's roar on you until you can resist both its heat and force." "What? Is that safe?" I exclaimed. Natsu said, "Don't worry, the heat shouldn't be too much of a problem for you because it doesn't exert too much force on the target, it is really the heat you have to worry about. You ready?" "That wasn't very reassuring, but okay, let's do this." I said. "Alright then!" said Natsu," Fire dragon roar!" The attack flew at Nicolai as he braced himself and yelled, "Here it comes!" But then suddenly, the exact moment that the attack touched Nicholai it immediately darted to the left as if it had a mind of it's own. "What was that?" Natsu exclaimed, " Nicholai did you do anything?" "I just asked in my mind for the fire not to hit me, and I felt some sort of power build up in me and the fire darted to the left as if it heard me." My god, Natsu thought, what is this kid!


	2. Fire dragon slayer magic

**Hey guys, i hope you like this next chapter, and know that i won't always be uploading daily. I just wanted to do this to kick everything off. Anyway, i hope you like it.**

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"Hey Nicholai, are you sure that you haven't been taught any kind of magic before? Because I have never seen anyone have such powerful manipulation over their magic power that they can manipulate another person's magic." Natsu inquired. "For about the tenth time, no, I have never known any magic before my training with you." I said. "Well then Nicholai, you have a serious gift. I can't even manipulate my own magic that well much less divert my own enemy's attack." Even though he didn't face my fire dragon roar's full force, seeing as how close he came to it without even flinching or breaking a sweat I think he is ready for the next stage of the training Natsu thought.

Natsu then said, "All right, let's got to the next part of training, I am going to need you to try and produce some flames. You remember that feeling of power you had when you diverted my attack? I want you to try and bring that power out again, but this time; give it form from your own internal heat, which you should be able to raise without harming yourself due to the training we just went through. The higher you make your internal temperature, the more effective your attacks will be. If this works, you should be surrounded in your own flames if you would ever flare up your magic power like that again." "Ok, so the higher my internal temperature is, the more numerous and hotter the flames I produce will be?" I asked. "Yes, so if you can manage to control your internal temperature more effectively, you can get to learning the more advanced aspects of dragonslayer magic, but enough talk, lets see how you do."

"Alright, lets do this! Focus, raise my body temperature, and then flare my magic power. Haaaaaaaaaaa!" To both Natsu's and Nicholai's surprise, Nicholai instantly became surrounded in a thick coat of flames "ON YOUR FIRST TRY, ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Natsu screamed, "I mean, great job. You really do have a talent for dragonslayer magic." Then with a dreaded look on his face Natsu thought, I had better train with him so I can be ready for him if he manages to catch up to me. "Alright, just a couple more things and you should be ready to start training on your own. Focusing and manipulating those flames, and then breathing and eating flames, but before that it's time for lunch. How convenient, you appear to be covered in flames, a perfect meal." He said as he walked towards me, and when he was next to me he said, "As a fire dragonslayer eating flames not only replenishes your magic power, but it also increases that power and fills up your belly." As he swallowed the flames around me I asked, " Okay, you have explained what it does, but how exactly do you do it?" "Well, *burp*, excuse me, just come over here and have a taste. After doing the heat resistance training and at the rate you have been progressing, this should be a snap," He said as he engulfed his body in flames. I'm doomed, Nicholai thought as he walked over to Natsu. "Also," Natsu added," It is easier if you treat it like you are sucking something up and out of a straw, because it is kind of a gas so, yeah." "Okay, I'll try to." To no one's surprise this time, Nicholai consumed the flames with ease. Natsu thought is there anything this kid doesn't have a talent for? "Alright, now use that power and focus it in your chest, then force it from the lungs, up your throat, and out the mouth," Natsu said. "Okay," I said nervously, "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Fire dragon roar!" I yelled as a massive fireball was ejected from my mouth. "Awesome," Natsu said," now, we need to work on both manipulating and focusing the flames you produce. Instead of flaring up your magic power and surrounding yourself in flames, I want you to be able to focus all of that power into the limb or limbs you will be attacking with. Then, you will need to manipulate those flames by compressing them, so not only will the burn more, but also they will increase your striking power exponentially. So, start by producing a large flame on each of your feet and hands separately." "Okay," I said, "will do." Then, suddenly a large amount of flames appeared on his hands and feet, from his right hand to his left hand to his right foot to his left foot. "Great, now I want you to do it just with your right hand, but this time concentrate all of those flames so they just form a thick coating of flames around your hand." Ok I thought, just remember how you diverted those flames before, but now concentrate al of your flames into one hand and compress them. "Haaaaaaaaaaa!" I yelled as the flames compressed more and more, almost crushing my own hand. Wow, Natsu thought, I may actually be surpassed by this kid. "Great job Nicholai, now that you can do this, you can start training on your own, developing even more techniques. Now you are an official dragonslayer, Congratulations." Natsu said, "In fact, do you want to make a team with me? We could go on all of our quests together, and I would be a lot of fun." I tried to hold it back, but I still ended up crying," Thank you *sniff* Natsu *sniff* my brother."

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**I hope you liked it, also me and my friend SoulTail7 will have our fan fictions occasionally intertwine, and for those of you who haven't seen her fan fiction you should go check it out. It's title is Green as Grass, and she does an incredible job with it, so I hope you read it.**


	3. Nicholai vs Erza

**Hello readers, this is an updated version of the chapter, as I noticed a huge plot hole that some of you also may have noticed. Anyway, here's chapter three.**

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As we walked back to the guildhall, Natsu asked me," Hey Nicholai, I probably should've asked this sooner, but why did you call me your brother back there?" I smiled and said, "Well, I called you that because you remind me of what I always thought a brother would be like." "Also," Natsu said," How do you remember things like your name, and your age?" I said," Well, it is kind of hard to explain. It's almost like I have a form of amnesia, with a few memories vaguely imprinted into my mind." "This kid really has had it rough," Natsu said to himself. "Hey Natsu," I said. "Yeah?" He said in response. I asked," Would you be okay with it if I made my middle name Dragneel? I never remember having a middle name. I guess since you were the one who helped me get away from my horrible past, I wanted to take part of your name." Natsu gladly said, "Sure, why not, I don't mind." We entered the guildhall to see a riot going on just like when we were first here. "Hey Nicholai, now that you know some magic, do you want to join in the fight?" Natsu said. "Sure," I said, "Why not." I nearly lost myself in the crowd of people being thrown around and beaten half to death. Then I came across a black haired man without his shirt on. The man turned to face me, "You want to fight?" "Sure," I said. He yelled, "ICE MAKE: HAMMER!" A giant hammer made of ice came slamming down on me. I barely managed to dodge as I yelled, "FIRE DRGON ROAR!" The man wasn't expecting that from me and took a direct hit and went flying across the guildhall. Almost all of the guild members stopped fighting and started to stare at me in surprise. But then, Natsu yelled, "Alright, great job Nicholai!" After that the fighting started to die down, or at least people were refraining from fighting me. Then, a red haired woman in armor came up to me and said, "You seem pretty strong, how about a little bit of sparring?" Before I could say anything Natsu came over to me and said, "Don't do it Nicholai, Erza is too much of an opponent for you, she won't go down as easily as Gray." I said, "Well then, I guess she can be a test to how strong I really am. Seeing as you are afraid of her, I bet she has beaten you before, so let's make a wager. If I can beat her, then you will always acknowledge me as your superior until you beat her yourself." "Wow, you've changed a lot from that lonely kid I found wandering around without a purpose. I won't stop you, but don't get yourself hurt." Natsu said.

"You ready Erza, 'cause here I come!" I exclaimed as I rushed towards her. Erza yelled, "REQUIP: FLAME EPRESS ARMOR!" Her body was suddenly enveloped in a golden light, and when it dispersed, she was wearing a new set of armor. I yelled, "FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" and as the massive fireball hurled towards Erza, she acted as if nothing was there, and it hit her with almost no effect. "Wha-" I tried to say before she charged at me and hit me with a scythe she just made appear out of thin air. "You'll have to do better that that if you want to defeat me," she yelled, "Flame empress armor makes me almost invulnerable to fire, and this scythe is impossible to melt." "Damn it," I thought, "What am I supposed to do?" "If that's the case," I said, "then I'll just have to smash that armor to pieces!" I ran towards her with both of my fists engulfed in flames and yelled, "FIRE DRAGON CLAW BARRAGE!" With every hit, her armor became weaker and weaker until it managed to break. "Huff… huff…" "I managed to break that armor," I thought, "but I'm all out of magic power what am I supposed to do?" "Impressive," she said, "but it seems that you are all out of magic power, so I have won this battle." She walked away with an arrogant look on her face. "Hey! Come back here! I'm not done with you yet!" I yelled while I started to fall to the ground and pass out.

I woke up in what seemed to be a near empty infirmary, with Natsu sitting next to my bed. "Hey brother," Natsu said, "How're you felling?" " Ugh, my head. Where am I?" Natsu responded. "You're in the guild's infirmary, and you've been unconscious from that fight of yours for about two days." "TWO DAYS?" I yelled in surprise. "Yeah," Natsu said, "you nearly gave me a heart attack when you collapsed like you did. You did really well in your fight, but try not to exhaust that much magic energy again okay?" "Has he really been this worried about me?" As I looked at where he was sitting, and noticed how he smelled, and all of the trash next to him, I could tell he hadn't moved from that spot for a while. "He really does care a lot for me," I thought. "And you woke up just in time too," Natsu said, "Master is about to announce something important. Come on, follow me." I had struggled to get out of bed and keep up with him. "I guess I'm not back up to one hundred percent yet." As we entered the guildhall, I noticed a large crowd in front of the stage, with master, Erza, a blond haired guy with a lightning scar on his face, a woman with white hair, a man with orange hair and a long cloak, and a person with a cloak covering their entire face with several staves strapped to his back all up on the stage. "Settle down, settle down," The master said, "Now, I am going to announce the eight candidates for this year's make up s-class wizard exam as we had that little 'incident' preventing us from doing it last year." "S-class exam?" I said. "Cana Alberona, Gray Fullbuster, Loke, Elfman Strauss, Levy McGarden, Macao Conbolt, Freed, and finally, Nicholai Kasai." "WHAT?" Natsu and me yelled in unison.

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**Hello again, thank you for reading. Don't forget to favorite and follow and all of that good stuff. Anyways, see you next chapter.**


	4. Dragon slayer secret arts

**Hey, sorry about no upload last week, I was busy. Anyway, I've got this chapter out and i might be able to upload the next chapter after this a bit early next week. Fun fact: I uploaded this at 11:56 pm.**

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"But Gramps, WWHHHYYYYYY?" Natsu whined for the tenth time, " Why does Nicholai get to go but not me?" "For the last time, he had only learned magic the day before, and he managed to defeat Grey and nearly beat Erza. That alone shows that he has the potential to become an s class wizard." Makarov said. "Just give it a rest Natsu," I said, "we are wasting time complaining to master when you could be training with me." "Huh?" Natsu said. "Didn't master say that we could each have a partner?" I asked, "I thought you could be my partner and we could train with each other for the week that we have." "Alright, BUT YOU HAD BETTER NOT START FEELING SUPERIORITY TO ME OR SOME CRAP!" "Fine, but lets get going!" I yelled with irritation. When we got to the little cottage of Natsu's, he said, "Alright, first thing to do is to teach you dragon slayer secret arts, which are advanced dragon slayer spells that are much more powerful than any other normal dragon slayer magic. There are at least three things you need to apply to the maximum when using these spells, explosive power, blunt force, and speed. While you seem to not have trouble in each of these areas, you will need to learn how to combine them in perfect harmony, which can be surprisingly difficult. But before you try to do it yourself, let me show you how it's done." He then gathered up flames in each of his arms, spun the flames into a spiral, propelled the flames in front of him, and yelled, "DRAGONSLAYER SECRET ART: FLAME LOTUS: EXPLODING FLAME BLADE!" Everything that was anywhere from forty feet in front of him and in a small area around him was nearly obliterated, and an intense shockwave of heat shot out from the blast area. Whoa, I thought, he was right; these spells are a whole different caliber than his other spells. "Yeah!" I exclaimed, "Teach me how to do that! Then next time I see that Erza girl I'll kick her sorry ass!" "Well," Natsu said, "It's not going to be that easy. For your own good, you will need to develop the spell yourself. If you try to imitate my own move, first of all it won't work, and even if it does, you will not be able to use the spell to its full potential, because each different dragon slayer secret art. Second, looking at how much you have been progressing, it is likely that the spell you create could be even more powerful than my spell." I tried to say something, but it was almost completely drowned out by my laughter, "So, *chuckle* you're admitting to me that I'm*chuckle* better than you? *bursts out laughing*" "HEY, I TOLD YOU NOT TO ACT LIKE THAT!" Natsu said, "Although you definitely do have the potential to surpass me, I am still your teacher and you have a long way to go. But for right now, lets just focus on having you develop and master your new spell." "Alright, I've already got an idea for one. I'll bring both of my arms together, ignite them, charge at the opponent, start spinning at a high speed, and create a gargantuan explosion on impact." "Yeah! That's a pretty good idea. But make sure that when you attempt the spell, you find a perfect balance between the three aspects I talked about. Use too much of one aspect and the spell could go haywire and possibly injure you, but use too little, and the spell wont be powerful enough to do anything, and will end up being a waste of your magic power. Anyway, go ahead and give it a go." "Alright," I said as I started to engulf my arms in flames, "Dragonslayer secret art: flame lotus: fire dragons spiral!" I began to spin and charge forward and struck the ground, which created an explosion. "What the hell?" Natsu said, "Your attack failed, but there was no obvious reason for it to have failed. Your speed, explosive power, and blunt force appeared to be balanced, but there was still something missing. Well, it seems you might not be able to pull it off." "WHAT!" I yelled. "Oh quit your whining." Natsu said in a joking tone, "We should focus on something else. Lets try to do a unison raid." "A unison raid?" I asked. "Natsu explained, "It is when two wizards with similar types of magic combine their attacks to create a better, stronger spell, and while we do use the same magic, we should still be able to combine our attacks and make them more powerful." "Okay then," I said, "You ready?" "Yeah," he said, "Let's go!"

*Jump to one week later*

Both Natsu and me stumbled out of the train car ready to barf. "That's it," said Natsu, "I'm never riding in a vehicle again." "Me either, that was not a good first impression of vehicles on me." I said, "At least we're here, now where did master say we should all meet up?" Natsu said, "We need to meet him at the harbor, remember? The s class trial is being held at Tenrou Island, which is the guild's sacred ground. We need to get going though, we don't want to keep them waiting." "Alright, lets go." I said

*Jump to three hours later*

"Ugggghhh," Natsu and me moaned in unison, "This is living hell." I looked over my shoulder and saw what looked like a giant tree sticking out of the ocean, "Natsu, please for the love of everything that is good in this world tell me that that is Tenrou Island." "Oh thank goodness, that's the island," Natsu said. "LISTEN UP EVERYONE!" Makarov yelled, "The first challenge is simple, there will be eight passages, one for each team. In each passage there will either be an s class wizard, another team, or if you're unlucky enough, me. If you can defeat your enemy, you can move onto the next part of the trial. You had better be ready, because the challenge starts now!" People darted out of the boat as well as the master racing for the passages. When Natsu and I got there, only three passages remained. "Quick!" I yelled, "Into that passage!" "What? Why?" Natsu asked. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Now lets go!" I said. It has to be this one, I thought, she has to be here. As I walked down the path my hopes came true as I saw the figure of a woman in armor. As I walked further into the chamber I said, "It's time for a rematch, Erza."

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**Hope you liked it! Anyway thanks for reading, please leave a review because it really helps me figure out if there is anything I can fix. Goodbye, and I'll see you next week.**


	5. Rematch

**Hey guys, sorry about no updates the last few weeks, I've been at camps. I will also be at another sleep away camp next week so there may be no upload next week, but who knows. Anyway, I hope you like this next chapter. Weekly fun fact: I kept listening to this one random song while i wrote this.**

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"Nicholai, you knew she was down this passage?" Natsu asked "Yep!" I said with an excited tone. "But how?" Natsu asked. "Easy," I said, "I could smell her. Surviving on my own for as long as I did, I developed abnormally accurate senses. "Wow," Natsu said as he started to walk towards me, "You're one insane bastard. But don't you think for a second that I am backing down after all of that training. Let's knock Erza for a loop, lets try the combo we worked on." "Right," I said. "You ready over there guys? Erza asked. "Yeah," we said in sync, "but you had better be ready too, 'cause here we come!" "Alright!" she said, "REQUIP: FLAME EMPRESS ARMOR!" as it happened last time, her body was enveloped in a golden light, and when it dispersed, she was wearing that armor, and wielding that scythe again. Both me and Natsu ran to opposite sides of her and yelled "DRAGON SLAYER UNISON: ABSOLUTE FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Giant fireballs launched out of both of our mouths, and Erza was crushed between the two. Then, just as she was about to get up, we both jumped over her as I engulfed my hand in flames and Natsu prepared another roar attack and yelled, "DRAGON SLAYER UNISON: SUPER PROPELLED FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!" While I punched Erza into the ground, Natsu's attack both gave me extra power and hit Erza after it got through me. As the dust cleared, it appeared that we had won. "We, we did it!" I yelled, but as I looked at Natsu he had a look of terror on his face as he stared at the crater we created. "Turn around." He said in a serious tone. When I looked at where Erza had been she was standing up, and although her armor was in shards, she was almost unfazed by that attack. "You had better be in for a surprise if you think I'm going to go down so quickly. Although, if I had not had my flame empress armor, I definitely would have been in trouble." Erza said. "Whatever!" Natsu said nervously, "Just because you managed to protect yourself against our unison raids doesn't mean we're giving up yet! Come on Nicholai, let's-" As Natsu was talking, I abruptly interrupted him, "No," I said, "I know what you're talking about, you don't want me going up against her after what happened last time, but please Natsu, let me beat her on my own. Last time, I got cocky, messed up, and I lost to her, but let me show you that I'm not going to make the same mistake again. My mind is made up, so don't try and stop me." "I wouldn't even think about it," Natsu said, "If that's how you really feel then I don't mind stepping out, but don't you dare go losing to her again, you got that?" "Heh," I smirked and said, "I wouldn't even think about it."

Erza then said, "You done giving yourself a pep talk Nicholai? Because I'm getting tried of waiting on you two." "Yeah," I said as Natsu went to spectate the remainder of the match. "Facing me alone knowing how it ended last time," she said, "That's something I would only expect the likes of Natsu to do." "You may have beaten me last time, but don't even think about underestimating me!" I yelled as I started running towards her. "REQUIP: BLACK WING ARMOR!" she exclaimed as a pitch-black set of armor with wings appeared on her. When I reached her, I engulfed my hand in flames and punched her as hard as I could, but she managed to stop my hand with her scythe. I smiled and said, "Bad choice." I grabbed her scythe, pulled as hard as I could, and managed to get it out of her hands. "Now," I said, "Lets see if this thing really can't melt." I engulfed it with flames as I would do with my body yet it completely maintained its structure. "Perfect. Let me give you a taste of your own medicine Erza. FIRE DRAGON BLADE VOLLEY!" I spun the scythe in a figure eight pattern, and with each hit I could see Erza getting weaker and weaker. "NO!" Erza yelled as she managed to get away from me, "I WON'T LET MYSELF LOSE LIKE THIS! REQIUP: PURGATORY ARMOR!" Suddenly, a set of black, spiky armor and a giant sword matching the armor appeared. What am I going to do, I thought. I've only got enough magic energy for one more big attack. Damnit, it's a big risk, but I've got to try. What's he doing, Natsu thought, the way he's gathering his energy. "DRAGONSLYAER SECRET ART:" No, Natsu thought, he's trying to do the dragon slayer secret art. "NICHOLAI," Natsu screamed, "DON'T DO THAT, YOU'LL DRAIN ALL OF YOUR MAGIC LIKE LAST TIME." "Trust me Natsu, I can do this." I said as I stared engulfing the scythe with my flames. "I've got to stop him." Erza said. As I started to charge towards her spinning the scythe, she began charging towards me, sword ready. As our attacks collided, I yelled, "FLAME LOTUS, FLAME SCYTHE JUDGEMENT!" I can't believe it; Natsu thought, he found what was missing. The collision caused a massive explosion, and when the smoke cleared, Nicholai was standing strong, with Erza on the ground unable to move. "Wow," Natsu exclaimed, "He actually did it." "While I'm not good with losing," Erza said, "I recognize when I'm beat. Good job Nicholai, you managed not only to beat me, but you overpowered my flame empress, black wing, and purgatory armor, and you took my weapon from me and then used it to defeat me. Go on ahead, and keep that scythe, you've earned it." "Thanks, Erza. Come on Natsu let's go." "Right." As we both started down the passage, Erza said, "I don't often cheer for my opponents, but I'll be rooting for you for the rest of the trial. Don't let this victory go to waste, and become an s class wizard." I started to choke up, but managed to say, "I will, Erza."

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**Hey guys, hope you liked it, leave me a review because it really helps me, also tell me in the review section if you want me to write the other fights like this, or just have them tell you the match ups and the outcomes once everyone has finished fighting. Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter.**


	6. The race

**Hello once again viewers, sorry about no updates for a while (School is torture). Anyway here's chapter 6, and I hope you do enjoy. Fun Fact of the week: I prefer to sit in a tree while I read rather than anywhere else.**

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As we reached the clearing of the path, we started to see the figures of a few of our guild mates. Gray, Jet, Loke, Alzack, Bickslow, Freed, and Makarov, who all looked like they had seen a ghost when we came out of our path. They then all yelled "YOU GUYS ACTUALLY MANAGED TO BEAT ERZA?" "Yeah," Natsu said, "But Nicholai ended up making me step out hardly after starting, so it was mainly him." "OH COME ON, YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING!" Everyone exclaimed. "Hey, I would stop doubting Nicholai if I were you guys. He's even stronger than me if you look at who we have and haven't beaten." "Stop it Natsu, I nearly ended that fight the same as the last one. We just got lucky, so who ended up fighting who?" "Well," Makarov said, "Macao's team ended up fighting me, you should have seen the looks on their faces when they saw me. Then Cana's team fought Laxus, Bixlow's team and Levy's team faced off, Gray's team fought Mirajane, but Gray had to freeze her for as long as he could and then him and Jet ran down the path and made it here. Elfman's team faced Gildarts, and Loke's team ran into Mystogan, but they won't tell us what actually happened. Either way, now that everyone is here, we can begin the second part of the trial. Now, I hope you all aren't too tired from your fights, because we are going to have a race to the top of the Tenrou tree. The first two teams to the top will win and move on to the final round. Once you are all ready, we can head to the base of the tree." "Alright!" Natsu said, "You ready Nicholai?" "Huh? Uh, yeah, sure Natsu." Nicholai's mind had drifted off thinking about how Erza had been acting around him. For whatever reason, he found her change in attitude towards him utterly baffling. She must've truly believed that he was capable of winning to talk to him with such kindness contrary to how she acted before, and Nicholai sure wasn't going to let her down. "Alright," I said, determined, "I'm ready, lets go."

*TIMESKIP TO 1 HOUR LATER*

The four teams lined up at the base of the tree as master began to go over the rest of this challenges rules. "Alright, as I said before, the first two teams to the top win and will move on to the next round. You have thirty minutes to get your team to the top, and all forms of magic will be allowed. Other than that, good luck, and although you can fight, try to focus on the race instead of beating each others asses." "No promises." Natsu said under his breath, grinning. "Alright! On your mark, get set, GO!" Most of the teams practically trampled each other trying to get to the front, while Bickslow and Freed started to fly up to the top, and Jet completely blew through the stampede of mages. After the teams had spread out, their positions in the race shifted quite a lot throughout the majority of the challenge. Nicholai and Natsu were in third place when they were about two thirds of the way up the tree, (With Bickslow, Freed, and Jet already at the top, and Gray only a short distance above them) and with only about five or six minutes left. "Nicholai," Natsu said as he was climbing, "You have any ideas? Because if we don't do something now, we're out of the s-class trials." "Gimme a second to think Natsu!" I can hardly even think like this, this would be a lot easier if we could just fly up like Freed and Bickslow. "Wait, that's it!" "What's it Nicholai?" Natsu asked as I stopped climbing. I didn't need to answer him, so long as Natsu could follow my example. I jumped out of the tree, and shot massive amounts of fire out from behind me, propelling myself up the tree at an exponential speed. Natsu quickly caught wind and followed suit, and in almost no time at all, we managed to pass by Gray and arrive at the top of the tree in second place. "DAMMIT!" Jet exclaimed, "I CAN'T BELIVE I ACTUALLY LOST A RACE!" He then started to stray away from the group mumbling about how he wasn't the "fastest" anymore. "Well," Makarov said trying to ignore Jet, "It would appear that we have our two teams. Now, once everyone else is here, we can head to where we will be having the final round"

*TIMESKIP TO 1 HOUR AND 30 MINUTES LATER*

Makarov and the two remaining teams stood on a long stretch of beach while master explained what the final round would be. "This challenge will just consist of a two on two fight, and whichever team is left standing wins." Sounds easy enough," I said in slight confusion. "Here's the tricky part, If even one of your teammates goes down, you will automatically be put of the running for the honorable title of s-class. This will test your ability not only to fight but to protect your comrades." Will master ever cut us some slack, Nicholai thought? "What," said Freed, "Giving up already?" Noticing his own worried expression, Nicholai snapped out of it and showed as much confidence as he could muster. "Don't count on it Freed, me and Natsu have come too far to give up. Natsu, take Bickslow, I've got Freed." "Confidence," Freed snickered, "I like that!" "Let's go baby!" Bickslow yelled in excitement. "Ready. Set. GO!" Fists blazing and eyes determined, Natsu and Nicholai Charged at their opponents. "I've said it once and I'll say it again. Don't… Ever…. UNDERESTIMATE ME!"

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**Cliffhanger ;) Anyway, thank you for reading, again I am very sorry about my absence due to school. I will post as much as my schedule allows. I would also like to mention that this took place after Lissana died, and the reason that Happy hasn't appeared is that he wasn't ever open to the idea of Nicholai being partnered with Natsu, which we will see soon. Anyway, I'm talking too much so I will see you in the next chapter, bye!.**


	7. Brother Dragons vs Thunder legion

**Hey readers, here's chapter seven. I made it extra long because of all of the spare time I've had recently (Hooray for labor day weekend) Anyways, I don't want to keep you guys waiting, so here it is. Fun Fact Of the week: I have come up with the ultimate hybrid. Duck+Crab=Drab and Quack+Ebi= QUEBIIII**

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As we charged, Freed and Bickslow prepared for our attacks. Freed swung his sword and would've taken off my hand had I not dodged. Bickslow made those creepy dolls of his launch an energy blast at Natsu, which he managed to evade. "That's all well and good Nicholai, but you shouldn't take the Thunder Legion lightly by any extent either!" Freed exclaimed. Natsu and me stood back-to-back waiting for our opponents. Steady, I thought. Wait until he's right in front of you. Freed and Bickslow closed in on us as we stood there, almost frozen in place. They were only feet away from us as we both yelled, "NOW, FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" At that range, there was hardly anything that they could do as our attacks knocked them back. "Don't let up Natsu, hit them with everything you've got!" "Right!" Punching, kicking and focused, we restlessly attacked, trying to finish this fight as soon as possible. "FIRE DRAGON CLAW BARRAGE!" I yelled while pounding away at Freed, who was managing to block a large majority of my attacks. "DARK ECRITURE: PAIN!" Just then I experienced a wave of excruciating pain, nearly causing me to black out. Freed jumped back to meet up with Bickslow, who had just managed to blast Natsu back for a bit. "Bickslow, I hate to admit it, but we need to go all out if we want a chance of winning this." "Yeah, we're getting our asses handed to us like this." "Alright then, lets do this!" As Bickslow removed his helmet, revealing his demonic, soul stealing eyes, Freed shouted, "DARK ECRITURE: DARKNESS!" Freed began changing, growing taller and more muscular, gaining dark gray and jet black skin, along with a pair of horns and sets of claws on his hands and feet. I struggled to get, back up as I headed towards Natsu, hoping he might have some knowledge of what's going on. "Natsu, what the hell is happening right now?" "I'm not sure about Freed, but Bickslow has activated his figure eyes move. Don't look into his eyes unless you want to lose your soul." As we both collected our wits, I smirked, "So, we're fighting a demon, and someone who could steal our souls at a single glance, this is going to be fun." Natsu began to smirk as well, "You must really be insane to be this content, but lucky for you, you've got a partner that's just as mental. I've still got Bickslow, you just take care of Freed." "Alright," I exclaimed as I began to rush towards the demon Freed had become while Natsu dashed off towards Bickslow. "There's no way you're going to win against me now Nicholai!" Freed had surpassed me in speed and strength, and there was nearly nothing that I could do except get a few hits in, weakening Freed slightly. Just then, I could hear something coming my way, and I almost dared to look before I realized who it was. "YOU GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER SOUL-STEALER! FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Unfortunately, as Natsu had his eyes closed when he shot at Bickslow, he ended up hitting me too. I went over to where I presumed the blast came from, "Hey Natsu, even though it's a bad idea because of who we're fighting, please look before you shoot. Anyways, how're you holding up?" "Even though I haven't gotten too many hits in, he's weakened and will be finished off if we just come up with a few big attacks. You?" "About the same, except it'll take quite a lot more damage to knock him out. I have an idea, don't worry, but you'll have to do exactly as I say."

(ONE MINUTE OF TELLING PLANS AND DODGING ATTACKS LATER)

"Wow, you have the most unlikely to work plans ever, but we can at least try." Said Natsu, who was asking himself in his head why he was going along with this plan. "Just stay there and be ready for your part, we're goanna need to act quickly if this is to work." "More like completely flawlessly," Natsu thought. I began to take flight the same way I did in the race, except this time, I proceeded to mock Bickslow and Freed, " You're just about as good at swordplay as me and Natsu are at not throwing up at the mere reference of a vehicle Freed! Hey Bickslow, try to have your own damn personality instead of stealing them from other people you bastard!" "YOU'VE CROSSED THE LINE YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Bicksow and Freed screamed at the top of their lungs, and then proceeded to begin to fly after me. I began flying towards Natsu as fast as I could to prevent the seriously pissed off guys within mere feet of me from getting any closer. As soon as I was within about five or six feet of Natsu, I immediately pulled up as fast as I could to get out of the way of the massive attack Natsu had been gathering energy for while I was being distracting. "FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Blinded by their rage, Freed and Bickslow were forced to take the full brunt of the attack. "Alright Natsu, you did it, now let's do this while we've got the time." They both began to gather their power to perform a move that if successful, would guarantee victory. I took out my scythe and lit it on fire as Natsu began to light his arms. They both then yelled, "DRAGONSLAYER SECRET ART UNISON: FLAME LOTUS: TWIN DRAGON OBLITTERATION!" Natsu fired his exploding flame blade as I rode with it, preparing to launch flame scythe judgment. Bickslow and Freed, still dazed from the earlier attack, were utterly defenseless against the power of the two dragon slayers. "TAKE THIS!" I screamed as I swung my flaming scythe at the two opponents, causing a massive explosion. As the smoke cleared, Natsu and I stood tall, with our enemy defeated. The master approached us with a proud smile, "Congratulations Nicholai, Natsu, you have passed the s-class exams. Nicholai, you now bear the proud title of s-class. May you only grow ever stronger. Come now, we shall tend to the injured, and then head home to celebrate your new title." 'WOOOOHOOOOO!" Natsu and I burst out cheering, only to soon pass out from exhaustion.

TIMESKIP TO THE NEXT DAY, AROUND 5:30 PM

I wake up to be in Natsu's house, the owner of which appears to be getting ready with a small blue figure next to him. "Natsu?" "Oh hey, you're awake. Gramps told me that we passed out right after we won the fight. I woke up in the Infirmary at Fairy Tail, and you were still asleep, so I took the liberty to carry you here before the party started." "Alright," I began to start to be able to think clearly again. "Umm Natsu." "Yeah?" "Who is that?" I gestured to the blue cat standing next to him, who looked angry at the sight of me. "Oh that's Happy, he's my partner, and when we aren't out on missions together, he tends to hang here. He wasn't with me when I met you because I tend to go only on solo missions in the weeks leading up to the s-class trials. He's also been avoiding you after he found out that I was treating you like a new partner.

FLASHBACK TO ONE WEEK AGO

"Alright Nicholai, meet you out there in a sec." Happy peeked out from behind some furniture, "Is he gone?" "Yes, he went outside. You know that you don't have to avoid him like this, he couldn't replace you, and if he knew you existed, he could tell you that himself." "I still don't trust him." "Ok Happy, you can feel how you want to about him, but I need to go train. I left some extra fish in the pantry if you need it. I'll see you later." "Fine." Happy said grumpily.

BACK TO NORMAL TIME

"That explains a lot of stuff I saw last week, such as large piles of fish skeletons out behind the house." Nicholai said. "Hey, Nicholai. Could you do something for me?" Happy asked. "Sure, what is it?" "You can do anything else you want, but please," Happy got a catch in his throat, "PLEASE DON'T TAKE NATSU AWAY FROM ME!" I got up and went over to go comfort the now sobbing Happy. "It's okay, I wouldn't do that to you. Who knows? Maybe all three of us could work as a team, and we could all be friends." Happy suddenly got a huge smile on his face, still wet with tears, "Aye sir!" "Alright," Natsu said, "Now that that's all taken care of, let's all head to the guild hall so we can party!" "Yeah!" "Aye sir!"

TIMESKIP TO TEN MINUTES LATER

As we entered the guildhall, there was an uproar of cheers welcoming us to the party. "Alright Nicholai, this is the part where Happy and I leave you so you can enjoy this party on your own." "Alright, see you later." So I walked about the guildhall, receiving lots of congratulations, and in turn a lot of embarrassment. "It's kinda weird that they're throwing this all for me, I've never really been this big a deal before." I thought in my head. Just then, Erza approached me, "I see you didn't let your win go to waste. So, how does it feel Mr. S-class?" My cheeks got even redder, " Well, to be honest, I don't know what to think of it yet. All of this attention, I'm not too sure it suits me." "Fair enough, don't worry, people won't make this big a deal after a while." "I hope so, I don't think I would be able to take all of this embarrassment." Just to my luck, Bickslow and Freed walked over to Erza and I. "Hey Nicholai." Freed said "H-hi," I said awkwardly, "Um, sorry about those things I said on the island." "Don't sweat it baby!" Bickslow exclaimed. "Yeah," Freed sighed, "I have to admit, that was quite the trap you set for us." My face turned redder than it had been all night. "Well, let's leave you to your own business." Erza said, seeing how unbelievably embarrassed I was. After my embarrassment had passed, I continued to party through the rest of the night, happier than I had ever been. "I finally have a true family. I- I love you Fairy Tail!"

TIMESKIP TO THE NEXT MORNING

"Well, I think it's about time that we got some work in. How 'bout you Nicholai?" Natsu said energetically. "Yeah lets go see what kind of s-class missions there are for us to do!" They both headed towards the s-class missions board on the second floor. "Good thing master is still asleep, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to be up here. I have to tell Nichiolai the situation soon enough." Natsu thought. "Hey, this one looks good!" I pointed to the slip of paper that read (Reward for the capture of the Rock-make wizard Raniel: 10,000,000 Jewel) "THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY FOR ONE GUY!" Natsu screamed, forgetting that the master was still asleep. "Huh?" Master yawned as he woke up. "Damnit!" Natsu screamed in his head. "What are you doing up there Natsu? You know the rules." "Right Master." "What rules?" I asked. "Um," Natsu said nervously. "Only s-class wizards are allowed on the second floor, and only s-class wizards can go on s-class quests. Even if there is an s-class wizard accompanying a normally ranked wizard, it is still against the rules. So I can't come with you." "WHAT! THIS IS CRAP MASTER! COME ON, CANT YOU MAKE AN EXCEPTION?" "Hey, calm down Nicholai, it's okay. I've honestly already got an unofficial mission that I haven't told you about. I was told that someone named Salamander is going to be in Hargeon soon, and I've got a strong feeling it may be Igneel that they're talking about. You shouldn't let this opportunity go to waste." "Alright, but-" "No, No buts. Just enjoy the experience of your first job. Who knows? You may just find a clue about who you were before all of this." "Okay Natsu, I'll go." "Alright, this is the right choice. Good luck on your mission." "Yeah. You too." So Natsu and me both set out on our jobs, both with hopes of finding family. Little did I know, soon, I would find out where I came from.

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**Hello again readers, (Is it just me or were there a lot of timeskips in this chapter?) Thank you for reading. Im SOOOOO excited for what I have planned in the coming chapters (No spoilers) ;). Anyway, thanks again for reading, I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. See you guys later!**


	8. Sayume

**Hello everybody, I hope you like the chapter, and I've got chapter 9 all ready for uploading, so it will be up within a day. I don't want to keep you waiting, so here's chapter 8. Fun fact of the week: I may or may not start writing another ff soon**

It had been about half an hour since I had left and I was on the Magnolia city limits when I realized that I had absolutely no idea where I was going. So I started to walk along the clearest path I could find in the surrounding forest, waiting to happen upon someone who could tell me where to go find some information. I stumbled upon a large clearing where there appeared to be some sort of a structure, and as desperate for directions as I was, I began to walk around, looking for anything that could tell me where to go. But instead of help coming in the form of some person walking in the woods as well, it came in the form of someone who caught me in a net trap.

I couldn't make out who or what the figure was, but it was short and appeared to be reaching for a weapon of some sorts. For whatever reason, I didn't bother trying to burn through the ropes, perhaps due to a subconscious desire to find out what was going on. The small figure, clearly shaking, began to walk further into the light, where I could see it completely. It was a cat, slightly taller than Happy with a silvery gray fur color with large areas of white on it's stomach and tail. The cat, with a sudden look of apology, rushed over to me once he got a good look at me. " I'm so sorry, I meant to do that to someone else." The cat said quickly as he tried release me from the net. "No hard feelings, but ya mind telling me who you were trying to trap?" I exclaimed, feeling both annoyance and interest towards the cat. "Well, these bandits keep harassing me, and even though I'm stronger than a lot of them, their leader will always end up beating me, and no matter where I go, they will always end up finding me." "I could probably help him out, it's not really goanna affect the grand scheme of things if I'm really looking for one guy throughout all of Fiore." I thought to myself. Noticing him still struggling with the rope, I burnt through the rope, which surprised the cat quite a bit. "A group of bandits shouldn't be too much to deal with." "R-really? You would do that for me? Thank you Mr." after a short awkward pause, I answered "Nicholai Kasai, what about you?" " My name is Sayume. If there is anything I could do to pay you back Nicholai, please let me know." "Actually, there is something that comes to mi-" Sayume interrupted me with a sudden gasp, "They're coming!" Confused, I said, "It's still not that big a deal Sayume, I can handle them." "No," he said in a voice filled with dread, "This is different, I can tell, they've all risen to the power if their leader." "Well," I said starting to notice some slight noise coming from the direction Sayume was facing, "If you can measure their power, why don't you take a look at this." I suddenly flared up my power as much as I could without causing a forest fire, causing Sayume to, and I am not kidding, sprout wings and fly back about fifteen feet in surprise. We both stared, awestruck at the sight of what the other one was doing, but there was little time for amazement as the group of about a dozen supposedly powerful bandits and their leader appeared from the edge of the forest. "Well, well," One of the bandits, who I presumed to be their leader mockingly continued, "the runt cat has enlisted some help has he?" I smirked as I lit my hands up in flames, "You could say that, if you consider catching me in a net 'enlistment'. Sayume you just stay up there, I can take care of this." "No," Sayume said, beginning to approach Nicholai, "I've put up with their abuse long enough, it's about time I finished this. Although, I still need your help." "Um, Sayume, not to be rude, but how do you intend to fight these guys, because they're all about five times larger than you." And here is where things really got weird, and I would be lying if I said I didn't do a double take to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Sayume grew to be about as tall as I am, if not taller, became even more well built than Freed looked when he transformed, and along with that, his staff expanded along with him. "Are you even a cat!?" "In all honesty, I have no clue whether I am or not, but since I don't really know what else I could be, let's just go with me being a magical cat." "Alright, well anyways, let's go." We charged at the bandits, both of us confident we could win. Unsurprisingly, the fight was over in hardly any time at all, with them all being not nearly as strong as me and with Sayume's newfound courage. Any details there were had been completely forgotten except for the fact that the fight took at most a minute before we sent them running. "We- we did it!" Sayume cheered at his freedom from the bandits. "Yep, so, back to what we were saying before we were interrupted." "Huh? Oh yeah. What did you need me to do?" "Well, you see, I was looking for this mage, and I wanted to know where I might find somewhere to get information about him." "There is a tavern not too far from here, but if you are looking for someone specific, I could help you with that myself." "Really? How?" "As you should've seen earlier, I have the ability to sense anyone's energy if I have met them before, even if they aren't mages, which can also be used to find certain magic users if I pinpoint on their magic type." "Really? Prove it, where are any fire dragon slayers, and how many are there in total?" "Well, lost magic is a bit harder to sense, but I can try. Let's see here, there's you right here, and I sense another one heading towards Hargeon, and at the speed he is going, he is probably in either a train or a magic car." "Woah, you were actually right. That other Dragon Slayer is my brother, and he is in fact on a train to Hargeon." "So, who did you need me to find?" Before I could talk, a wave of sudden hunger slammed into Sayume and me. The sound of Sayume's and my stomachs growled loud enough to probably scare off some wild animals. "Hehe," I said scratching the back of my head, "I guess we're both pretty hungry after that, even though I wouldn't have even considered that a fight. Come on, we can go get some food at that tavern you were talking about." "Yeah!" Sayume yelled in excitement.

**Hello again, thanks for reading, please leave a review as it helps me a lot. I apologize if some of you may have thought that this chapter was a bit dull, but do not fret, the next chapter has an incredible twist (Again, no spoilers).**


	9. Raniel

**Hello again viewers, I managed to get this up quicker than I thought I could, so here it is. Fun fact of the week: I FINALLY GOT TO THE BEST TWIST IN THE STORY!(END OF CHAPTERRRRRRRRRR) Also, I just re uploaded this on the 19th, and I have no Idea what had happened with all of that extra text. Anyways bye!**

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"We both dug into the massive servings in front of us, leaving the bartender awestruck that we were keeping it all down. I continued to talk with Sayume, each of us alternating between asking and answering questions. "Nicholai, since you are a mage, what guild do you belong to?" "Fairy Tail, and I'm actually one of their s-class rank wizards. Hey, since you actually seem like an incredible wizard yourself, why don't you join Fairy Tail when this is over?" "Well, since I don't really have anywhere else to go, I would love to." "So Sayume, how long have you been held up in the woods for?" "Umm, let me see, now that I think about it, seeing it's been about six years since I hatched, that would make it six years." "Wow," I thought, "That's almost as long as I was alone for, and it must've been tough for him especially." "Wait," I said coming to realization of what he had just said, "You came out of an egg!?" "As I said before, I cannot explain it any more than you can. Anyway, who is it you need me to find?" "Oh come on," I said jokingly, "You don't talk about work while you eat. Come on, let's see who can finish their meal first." In a matter of a few minutes, Sayume was just finishing the last bites of his meal, while I wasn't anywhere near done with mine. "I give up, I cannot compete with you when it comes to eating," I began talking in a slightly louder and regal voice, "All hail the hungry Sayume!" We both laughed, "Just gimme a minute or two and then we can discuss the job." I then rushed to finish my food, nearly choking several times. Excited to finish the job as quickly as possible, I explained the rest of the job to Sayume, who looked just as excited as me. "So, do you think you could find him?" "I can sure try. Now, rock make, rock make, rock make. Oh! Would you look at that, I only picked up on one energy source. He appears to be just a little ways north of here. Let's get while the getting's good and head over there right now." "Ok, how do you think we should catch up to him, and no, vehicles aren't an option." "Well, I could probably just fly us there since you look light enough for me to carry you." "You sure I won't end up being motion sick?" "I promise." Sayume said with a slightly nervous smile. As he did before, he spread his wings that he made appear out of thin air, this time flying behind me and grabbing the back of my shirt. To my surprise, he picked me up with ease, and he wasn't even in his stronger form. "And we're off!" Sayume dashed off at an alarming speed. This was great, we could catch Raniel and then head back to Fairy Tail, and the best part about it all, I wasn't puking my guts out. About five minutes of flying later, Sayume began to tell me a plan he had been coming up with on the way, "So Nicholai, since we're about to come up on the town I sense him in, we might as well start discussing what we should do. I know you might just want to face him head on, but we need to be a bit smarter about this." As we began to land on the outskirts of town, Sayume pulled a long cloak out of the backpack he was carrying. "Here," he said handing me the cloak, "you'll need to not stick out if you want to get the drop on him. I'll be hiding under the cloak telling you where he is, and when we get close enough, I trust that you can handle the rest." "Alright," I said as I began to put the cloak on as he hid under it, "quite the plan there little buddy." As we entered the town, my mind began to wander as I subconsciously listened to where Sayume told me to go. I was snapped out of it by a paw nudging at the back of my head. "Nicholai, he's not too far away now, be on your guard." As I walked foreword, I began to see a face that matched Raniel's photo. I began to turn my head ever so slightly to make sure no one else was in the alleyway, that way no one would get hurt if things went south. Just as he was about to pass me by, as fast as I could, I turned and threw my hand at his throat, slamming him against the wall of the alleyway. I wasn't choking him, but he wasn't able to move with my hand over his neck. "Are you Raniel, the rock make mage?" He kept a surprisingly calm tone of voice, "That depends, who's asking?" "Nicholai Kasai, an S-class wizard from Fairy Tail." Raniel got a devilish grin on his face, "Well, in that case I am Raniel, and I assume you're here because of the bounty on my head. That's all well and good, but before you drag me off and turn me in, would you like to hear something funny?" "Humor me," I said sarcastically. He began to laugh,

"I killed your parents."

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**OMG OMG, Raniel is just asking to be killed! As always, thanks for reading, please leave a review as it always helps, and if you really liked this, why not add it to your favorites and maybe even follow it? Thanks again for reading, and I will see you all in the next chapter.**


	10. Kasai

**Hello viewers, here's chapter ten. I really don't have too much to say this time, so I will just leave you to reading. Fun fact of the week: I've actually completed several of the following chapters, so be ready for some of this coming soon.**

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I was, for the first time, ready to kill someone out of sheer anger. My eyes were full of rage, and anyone within a square mile would have been able to feel a sudden and steep rise in temperature. It took every drop of self-control I had to not burst into flames and burn him to a crisp, "Sayume," I said, quite obviously seething with anger, "why don't you go scout around for a minute?" Sayume nodded and dashed off, not wanting to see what I was about to do to Raniel. "Now," I said turning my attention back towards Raniel while tightening my grip on his throat and reaching for my scythe, "You have about five seconds to elaborate before I turn you into a pile of ash!" "Your parents, Alexander and Katria Kasai, were astounding wizards, and I believe were some of the candidates for being members of the ten wizard saints. They had the, umm, 'hobby' of destroying dark guilds. Mine and several other dark guilds were worried about their safety, so they sent some of their best wizards to kill the two of them. I believe that other than me, the roster consisted of, the wind mage Erigor, the poison dragon slayer Cobra, and the flame god slayer Zancrow. We were all sent to where we were informed that they were living, and like the "heartless bastards" we were, we killed them both while they were asleep, and proceeded to burn the house down. But, as we were doing so, yours truly was approached by an eight-year-old boy named Nicholai. Going against my better judgment, I hit him on the head and set him down somewhere in the woods instead of killing him. Now, as you can see, that decision has come back to bite me in the ass." My rage towards him grew more and more, until I couldn't prevent myself from bursting into flames, "You insane, sadistic, COLD BLOODED BASTARD!" I made my grip on his throat even tighter, also making my hand over his throat even hotter, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU DID TO ME? DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LIVE WITHOUT ANYONE TO CALL FAMILY, ANYWHERE TO CALL HOME? FOR SIX LONG YEARS I SCRAPED BY, LIVING WITH NO PURPOSE, IT WAS THE SAME AS BEING DEAD!" Raniel began to gasp for air, "Rock make: H-hammer." "Huh?" I suddenly received a hard knock to the head, causing my vision to get blurry. I wasn't able to maintain my grip on his throat, and he began to run away. Despite being on the verge of passing out, I chased after him with all of the strength I had left, "GET BACK HERE!" however, it wasn't enough, as my vision began to go dark, and I fell to the ground.

"Nicholai! Nicholai wake up!" My head was throbbing, my vision was cloudy, and it hurt to move. "Ugghh." "Good, you're conscious." "What a cowardly bastard, knocks me out and runs with his tail between his legs." "I'm sorry Nicholai, I came over as soon as I sensed Raniel running away, but I couldn't catch up to him." "It's alright, we can easily find him again, but right now, I need you to find three other mages. A flame god slayer, a poison dragon slayer, and an extremely powerful wind mage." "Alright," Sayume answered, slightly confused, "Umm, you probably aren't going to like this, but these will be a bit trickier to track down. That wind mage you are looking for doesn't exactly stick out, as you can imagine. In the case of the other two, I didn't even need to try and focus on any of the energies close to them to tell that other, powerful wizards surround them." "We can figure out how to deal with the other two later. We need to get some information about Erigor, do you know anything in particular?" Sayume thought for a moment, "The name sounds slightly familiar, I do believe that Erigor only accepts assassination jobs, so we may be able to get a lead from that." "Alright, let's see what we can find out." I drifted off into my own world as I had before, "Don't worry. Mom, Dad, I won't let them get away with what they did to the two of you."

*6 weeks later*

Sayume and I sat in a pair of barstools, moping over yet another one of our leads not working. "Nicholai, I don't want to be disrespectful, but is it really worth going through all of this just to find this one guy?" While him saying that did make me angry, I tried to act as level headed as I could, "Yes, it is, and I'm not going to stop until I get back at each and every one of those jerks. Now come on, lets try and find another lead." Sayume reluctantly got up, "Alright." So, I talked to the rest of the people in the bar as Sayume left the bar and flew around, asking anyone if they knew anything. We met up about ten minutes later, and I, with no lead, was having low hopes. Then, Sayume flew towards me with the largest grin on his face, which then mirrored onto my face. "Nicholai! While this will make you feel stupid, I've got great news! Erigor was apparently defeated and arrested about a week ago by your brother, so if we want to talk to Erigor, all we need to do is talk to the magic council about it. Although I don't exactly know if they would be ok with that." "Don't worry, I will convince them, whether it be with words," I lit my hand on fire, "or with force. Either way, let's go. You know where it is?" Sayume sprouted his wings, "I sure do."

*Several hours later*

As we flew through the town of Era, we began to be able to see the magic council's headquarters. After we touched down near the front gate, several guards confronted us. "Stop! What is your business here?" I attempted to act as formally as I could, "We request to see the prisoner Erigor, as I specifically have business with him." "Sir, while you may seem to have no bad intentions, I cannot allow you to see the prisoner without proper clearance." Frustrated, I began to lose my polite tone, "If you do not let me pass, I will have no quarrel with introducing my fist to your face." The guard also began to act more aggressive, "Any sign of aggression will be treated with extreme measures. So if I were you, I would watch your tongue." Sayume, being the quick thinker and level headed cat that he was, quickly de-escalated the situation. "I do apologize for my friend's behavior here. You see, we are reporters from sorcerers weekly, and our boss asked us to see if we could get an interview with the prisoner. I know it may be a bit unconventional, but our boss is quite the demanding man, as you can imagine." The guards, after several minutes of talking amongst each other, sent someone from the group to speak to us, "Alright, you can talk to him. Just don't do anything stupid, it took one of Fairy Tail's top tier wizards to defeat this guy." As I was in a better mood, I saw no reason not to act polite once again, "Thank you kind sir!" "Yeah yeah, just get the interview done and be on your way." As the gates opened and the guard led us down to Erigor's cell, Sayume and I were constantly checking to make sure our weapons weren't visible. "Well, here he is. Erigor, you've got visitors." "Do I now? Who would want to visit me?" "Now," I said turning to face the guard, "I do believe that the prisoner would be more comfortable being interviewed if he didn't have you standing there." "Are you sure you'll be alright being alone with him?" "Of course! Now, if you please." "Alright," the guard left, leaving just Erigor, Sayume, and I in a cell together. "Now, getting back to the interview," I hid my anger behind a false sense of peppy interviewer attitude, "Hey Erigor, I just wanted to ask you some questions, is that ok?" "Whatever fly." "Ok, well, lets get started. Can you remember the names of people you were assigned to assassinate?" "These are some weird questions you're asking here, but whatever. You'd be surprised, but I do in fact remember a lot the names of the people I am assigned to kill and those related to them." "Alright, now, does the last name Kasai, ring any bells?" I remember that name. I was assigned to take out Alexander and Katria Kasai, but they were both worthless flies. I do also remember their kid; I think his name was Nicholai. I left the decision of what to do with him up to this rock make wizard I was working with; I can't remember his name though." "Good," I began to shift my voice to a darker tone, "Now, could you please tell me my name?" I slowly made my hand hotter and hotter, "How do you expect me to know your na-" He just got a sudden look of realization on his smug face. My hand began to become coated in flames, "You killed my parents, and make no mistake, I don't care if it's the shinigami himself I need to fight, I will pay back the men who killed my parents ten fold." He got a grin on his face, "Bring it on fly."

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**Hello again viewers, thank you for reading this chapter of my story. By the way, just two little side notes. 1. Just because I'm having Nicholai fight the same people that Natsu did does not make me not creative, it is supposed to show how they both overcame the same obstacles. 2. If you are wondering why these time skips are on scales of weeks, it is because I am having Nicholai's story develop alongside the actual anime story (Yes, I checked the timeline and all of the time skips will be completely accurate). Anyway, see you next upload!**


	11. Nicholai's dark side

**Hello everyone, I wanted to post this earlier, but I ended up having to make several big changes and make the chapter slightly longer. Without further ado (that is probably not how you spell it), here is chapter 11. Fun fact of the week: I am getting desperate for fun facts of the week, and I will be starting a new thing at the starts of the chapters in the next one.**

His cockiness made me ever more angry, especially since he was wearing handcuffs, "Sayume, go. You don't need to see this. In fact, I need you to keep watch and make sure no one comes anywhere close to the cell, and if they persist, stall them." Sayume answered slightly frightened, "S-sure thing." Sayume flew off, "Now," I turned back towards Erigor, "Where were we?" He cackled, "An orphan fly was about to try and kill the death god himself." "That smug attitude is going to get you killed, and sooner than you think." I walked towards Erigor, "Sure, attacking me while I have restraints on. What a cowardly move." I became even more enraged than I had been when I met Raniel, "LIKE YOU CAN TALK ABOUT COWARDICE! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS WHILE THEY WERE SLEEPING AND THEN BURNED THEIR HOUSE DOWN, LEAVING AN EIGHT YEAR OLD TO FEND FOR HIMSELF FOR SIX YEARS!" I brought my scythe to his neck, ready to finish the job, "IF THAT ISNT COWARDICE AT ITS FINEST, THEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS!" He laughed even louder and more manically, "Go ahead, finish it. It won't change the fact that they are dead." I slowly lowered my scythe, "No, you don't deserve death, none of you do." I made the fire in my hand even hotter. Bringing my hand to his neck, I picked him up, slowly suffocating him. "I will make you suffer for what you all did, and you will regret ever letting me live. First you, then Cobra, afterwards Zancrow, and last but not least, Raniel will suffer the most of all." I hadn't noticed, but Sayume had snuck in a few moments earlier. Horrified at what he was seeing me doing, he yelled at me, "STOP IT NICHOLAI, STOP IT!"

I spoke to him in an unintentionally harsh tone, "I thought I told you to keep watch." "LOOK AT YOURSELF NICHOLAI, THIS ISNT YOU AT ALL!" Looking back towards Erigor, I truly realized what I was doing. I saw myself going through a personal dilemma, "If I kill him, I'm just as bad as him, but if I don't, I wouldn't be able to live with myself." I lit my other hand on fire, "God damn it all!" I punched the cell wall, and I felt blood leak down from my knuckles. Erigor smirked, "Even after all that I've done, you still can't bring yourself to do it can you? You know, despite how I am now, early on in my career, I was hesitant to kill. But after a certain point, it simply didn't matter to me anymore who lived and died. You vaguely remind me of who I was early on, not that it matters though." I set Erigor back down, "No, I'm not like you. You'd kill your family if you were paid enough. I will never kill, but I still stand by my word to make sure every single one of you pays for your sins." The longer Erigor spoke, the more insane he seemed, "Punish us for our sins, that reminds me of all of the old wives tales I would listen to as a child. The grim reaper is the one who leads you to your punishment in the afterlife, and it seems that you are taking on that role as the reaper himself." I had stopped listening to him once he had referenced his childhood, "I'm done listening to you and your insane antics." I delivered a swift punch straight to Erigor's cheek, knocking out a cluster of molars and a large amount of blood. I turned to the cell door as Erigor's limp, unconscious body, collapsed to the floor, "Come on Sayume, let's go." We both walked out of magic council's HQ, silent. As I had been doing a lot recently, I drifted off into deep thought, and before I knew it, we had both walked to the city limits of Era. Sayume broke the silence, "Nicholai?" I had lost my train of thought, "Yeah? What is it?" "Do you even have a plan for catching these last two guys?" I actually had no clue what to do next, "Well, I guess we should just start gathering some more information on the two, and then just focus on catching them when their guild isn't around to protect them." "Alright then," Sayume sprouted his wings, "Let us be on our way." I smiled, "Thanks Sayume, and uh, sorry about how I was acting back there." "No problem. Now come on, those two won't be exacting revenge on themselves." I loved how supportive he was despite how I had acted not a few minutes ago. "Right." Flying off to finish what I had started, I was determined to bring justice to my parents' killers.

*5 weeks later*

Sayume and I were walking through yet another town, trying to find a lead on Cobra. "Alright Sayume, you go do your thing while I do mine, and let's meet up here in about half an hour." "Alright," Sayume flew off to ask around for information, while I went to do the same. After checking the with people in local bar and town square, I was about ready to head back to my meeting place with Sayume, but as I walked along, someone or something pulled me into an alleyway. Although the grip was relatively weak, I felt the same curiosity that overcame me when Sayume had caught me in a net. It was a hooded figure that was slightly shorter than me. I heard young, female voice come from the figure, "I know you are looking for Cobra of the Oracion Seis. I can't tell you much about everyone else in the guild, but I hope this will help you. He has black eyes that are almost shaped like a snake's, tanned skin, and he has maroon colored hair that is spiky and always slanting slightly upwards. I know that Cobra's hearing is that of legend, he could hear you talking normally from miles upon miles away, even being able to hear your thoughts. If you wish to get his attention without confronting him face to face, you will need to use his actual name, which I found out is Erik Also, I should mention that if you do end up fighting him, keep an eye out for the giant snake he has as a partner, and make sure to avoid his poison at all costs." The girl let go of me, "Goodbye and good luck." Before she could run off, I grabbed her by the arm, "Why are you helping me?" The girl began to act slightly choked up, "Just as they did to you, they took my family from me." I let go of her, and looked down at the ground, "THAT BASTARD! NOT ONLY ME, BUT ALSO OTHER PEOPLE ARE HAVING THEIR LIVES RUINED!" I then just realized, she had said they, not him. I realized who she must have been, and I looked up, only to find that she was gone. After I managed to comprehend who I had just seen, I realized I was late for meeting with Sayume, "Oh no, he's going to kill me." I ran back to the meeting point, only to find Sayume quite obviously worried and asking people if they've seen me. When he saw me, I don't know if there would have been any face he could've given me that would've made me feel any more guilty. "You know I get worried when I don't know where you are." Although when he gets like this, it irritates me, I try to remember that Sayume is only six and he does see me as family. "I know, but I have some good news, and an idea of how to get Cobra to come fight me." I told him of the woman that I had met in the alleyway, "Huh?" Sayume scratched his head in confusion, "That's weird." "What is?" He looked back towards me, "You remember when I found out that Erigor was in prison?" "Yeah?" "Well, something similar happened to me. Some young woman that had her face covered pulled me off to the side and told me about Erigor." What Sayume said confirmed my suspicions of who that woman was. "Sayume, was that girl a wizard?" He sighed, "If you want to find her again, we're going to need to find another way. She never used any magic she may have had, which is how I find wizards I've already met." "Damn it. Either way, we have the information and a way to contact Cobra, so let's go. Can you manage any more flying today buddy?" "I can sure try." Sayume said as he grew his wings. "Alright, I need you to fly me to the nearest mountain there is to Cobra's energy." Sayume stood silent for a moment, doing what I was assuming as finding where Cobra is and trying to remember what the surrounding terrain was like, "Alright, I know where we're going! Let us be off!"

The top of the mountain was surprisingly cold; "At least we don't have to stay here for long." I thought to myself. Sayume shivered, "So, what exactly is your plan Nicholai?" I turned to face him, "You may think this is a bit uncreative on my part, but it is worth a shot. Remember how Cobra has extremely sensitive hearing? Well, since we shouldn't be that far from him, you and I are going to be using that to our advantage. I'm going to scream at him to meet me here so we can fight." Sayume got a very weird look on his face, "How like you to come up with a plan like that. It should work since at this distance, only he should be able to hear you." "Alright, you may want to cover your ears." Sayume did so as I prepared myself. I took a deep breath, and prepared to release it almost as I would when using fire dragon roar, but instead screaming, "ERIK, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS COBRA OF THE ORACION SEIS! THIS IS NICHOLAI KASAI, EVEN IF YOU DO NOT KNOW MY NAME, YOU SHOULD REMEMBER MY PARENTS, BECAUSE YOU KILLED THEM! IF YOU HEAR THIS, AND HAVE EVEN A SINGLE SHRED OF COURAGE, YOU WILL MEET ME FROM THE PLACE YOU HEARD THIS NOISE IN EXACTLY THREE WEEKS TIME, AND YOU WILL NOT BRING ANYONE BUT YOURSELF! SHOULD YOU NOT SHOW UP, I WILL STILL FIND YOU AND PUNISH YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID!"

**That was slightly anti climactic, and I think if Cobra actually heard that, he would have one of his eardrums blown out since he heard Brain normally talking from a matter of miles away. Anyway(I use that word a lot don't I?) thanks for reading. Like, favorite, follow and all of that good shiz, and yes, i know that isn't a word.**


	12. The Poison Dragon

**Hello, and as I said last time, I am starting a new thing at the beginning and end of my chapters, but before that, let's do the fun fact of the week. Fun Fact Of The Week: To those of you who have gotten to this point in the anime, I originally thought that the Jiggle Jugs Gang members wee just really fat and ugly women until the dub actually added the extra detail that they were men.**

**Nicholai: You seriously thought that? **

**Sayume: We weren't even there and we knew that.**

**Both: Somehooowwww...**

**Me: Well thanks for ruining the surprise you two. **

**Both: You are very welcome.**

**Me: Yes viewers, I am going to start commentary with the characters before and after each chapter. So, how well do you think you are going to be able to deal with the Oracion Seis?**

**Sayume: Well, that depends, because I really have no idea how strong they are. **

**Nicholai: Yeah, me neither.**

**Me: Well, I guess we'll just have to see.**

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I almost went deaf from the sound of my own scream. Once the slight ringing in my ears passed, I turned to face Sayume. With his ears still over his head Sayume asked me, "Can I put my hands down?" I almost spoke to him until I remembered he wouldn't be able to hear me, so I gave him a thumbs up. "Alright," he put his hands down, "so what are we going to do for these next three weeks?" "Well, even though I'm pretty sure I would be able to beat him either way, I think it would be best that we train with each other, just in case he doesn't come alone." "Alright," Sayume activated his stronger form and grabbed his staff, "might as well start now then." I tried to answer without hurting Sayume's feelings, "Ok, but are you sure you're strong enough to actually spar with me?" "Yeah, over these past three months, I've been training myself in my spare time." I lit my fists, slightly holding back due to my fear of harming Sayume. "If that is the case, then get over here." He ran at me with surprising speed, and before I could even try to counter, he got himself in a position under me, with his staff directly in between the ground and me. Sayume extended the staff even further, sending me flying back about ten feet. "Not to be rude," Sayume stood at rest, "but if you hold back, this obviously won't be a fair fight." I realized my mistake, "Alright, get ready because I'm not going to be holding anything back!" Sayume smirked, "Bring it on!"

*3 weeks later*

Sayume and I stood side by side, waiting for Cobra. "Be ready Nicholai, I can tell already, he's heading here with the rest of his guild lagging not too far behind him." "It doesn't matter to me, so long as he shows up, I'm satisfied. Even if I have to fight the rest of his guild first, I will avenge my parents." I began to see the maroon hair, tanned skin, and soon the black, snakelike eyes that supposedly belonged to Erik. Alongside him was a gargantuan purple snake that appeared to move in harmony with Cobra, "Hopefully they don't fight that harmoniously." I thought. Erik spoke up, "So, the Grim Reaper has deemed it to be my turn to suffer. Even after hearing your conversations with Raniel and Erigor, I'm not scared of you." Despite the hate I felt at the moment, I couldn't help but grin, "That's easy to say when you have a giant snake to hide behind, and one of the strongest dark guilds tailing you." He seemed frustrated when I said that, "How could you possibly know that?" "Well," I turned towards Sayume, "why don't you tell him yourself Sayume?" Sayume became slightly nervous, though he still spoke with great confidence, "Well, I have the natural ability to sense far off energies, so detecting someone from that distance is child's play." I turned back towards the now slightly enraged poisonous dragon slayer, beginning to prepare myself for a fight, "Sorry about that Erik, but you won't be able to pull something like that on us. Sayume, if you want, you can go ahead and try and hold off the rest of his guild while I take care of him." "Alright, don't get yourself killed." "The same goes for you." As Sayume began to fly off, Erik formed a ball of poison around his hand "DON'T YOU IGNORE ME!" He shot an orb of poison towards Sayume. I left him completely dumbfounded when I caught up to it and hit it off course before it was even halfway towards Sayume. Despite all of this, he grinned, "Finally, someone who it is actually worth my time to fight." I wasn't going to give him time to act arrogant, "FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" He was ready for me, "POISON DRAGON ROAR!" His attack countered mine perfectly, "Now, Cubellios!" The giant snake of his rushed me from the left, knocking me back several feet. "So, this must be how he uses that ability of his to hear my thoughts. That'll be a giant pain in the ass to deal with." I said out loud, not caring, as he would be able to hear me either way. I grabbed my scythe, surrounding it with my flames and preparing myself to launch an attack. I charged at Erik, and just as I was in front of him, I ran around behind him as fast as I could while also turning to my right, switching my scythe over to my right hand. It lasted only for a moment, but for me it almost seemed like an eternity. With all of the force I could muster, I swung my scythe at his face. Erik ducked under my attack, and seized the opportunity to lunge at me. I grinned; I swung my left hand that I had set ablaze while turning straight towards his face. He took a direct hit, knocking him back a good distance. "Just because you can hear my thoughts doesn't mean you're fast enough to counter my attacks that I think up!" That snake of his slithered over to him, helping him get back to his feet. "Well, that's where my magic is going to be a problem for you. How does that arm of yours that you used to block my attack feel?" I had tried to ignore it, but my arm felt heavier, more difficult to move. "My poison will slowly weaken you, and with enough exposure, kill you. Cubellios, take flight." The snake that he had with him somehow grew a pair of bat-like wings as Erik walked to stand on top of it. While it took off, Erik slowly grew scales and claws on his arms. He grinned, "POISON DRAGON SCALES!" He swung his arms furiously, sending a barrage of poisonous shots directly towards me. "FIRE DRAGON'S FLIGHT!" I launched myself into the air, seamlessly evading Cobra's attack, and charging towards him. "GET OVER HERE!" Just as I was in front of him, he screamed, "POISON DRAGON'S TWIN FANG!" His attack almost caused me to completely fall out of the sky. He didn't stop there, as he cloaked his hand in poison once again, he jumped off of his snake and straight towards me, "Now, POISON DRAGON SHARP HORN!" I was hit square in my abdomen with the relative force of a train, and with the poison to boot, I blacked out.

When I regained consciousness, I realized I was on the ground, slightly buried in the snow. There was a huge pain in my chest. As my vision cleared, I began to see Erik with his foot firmly planted on my solar plexus. "Nicholai, oh Niiicholaiiii. You awake?" It was difficult to speak with all of the poison in my system, "You, yo- AAAHHHHHH!" He pushed his foot even deeper into my chest. "What was that? Sorry, I couldn't hear you over that broken rib!" He spoke in a condescending tone. He lifted his foot while covering it in poison and pointing it right at my face, "Tell your parents Cobra says hello when you see them in the afterlife." Something in me snapped. He sent his foot flying towards my face, only for me to catch it in my hand. I pushed him back with as much force as I could bring out. I jumped to my feet, ignoring the pain in my chest. Erik was dumbfounded, "How can you be standing up after all of that? I guess you just need more poison. POISON DRAGON ROAR!" I knew it would be dangerous, but it was the only way to defeat him in the state I was in. I made no attempt to dodge or counter the attack and waited for it to reach me. I stopped the attack once it reached me by inhaling the poison just as I would with any fire. Once I had ingested all of the toxins, I prepared for either death or an extreme power surge. I felt a sudden rise in my magic power, and I grinned, "Now I've got his power and no Sayume to stop me this time. Perfect. ERIK, YOU'LL WISH YOU NEVER WENT AS FAR AS YOU DID!" I charged at him, cloaking myself in my flames and his poison. He looked absolutely terrified, "H-how, HOW DID YOU INGEST MY POISON?" "YOU SHOULD NEVER MESS WITH A FAIRY TAIL WIZARD, ESPECIALLY A DRAGONSLAYER!" He made an attempt to swing at me; I easily dodged it and jumped directly over him. "POISONOUS FLAME DRAGON ROAR!" My attack slammed him directly into the ground, almost causing an avalanche. I quickly grabbed my scythe, cloaking it in both poison and fire, "NOW, DRAGON SLAYER SECRET ART: FLAME LOTUS: POISON SCYTHE JUDGEMENT!" I spun myself down to him with as much speed as I could, "TAKE THIS YOU MURDEROUS BASTARD!" The resulting explosion blew up the cliff we had been fighting on, sending him down the edge of the mountain while I used my fire to hover over the chasm. "If that attack wasn't enough, then that avalanche and rockslide sure finished him. I'd better go check on Sayume."

I flew down to where I found Sayume and the rest of Oracion Seis's members fighting. To my surprise, Sayume had already taken down three of the members. One was a woman who was wearing what almost looked like a dress of feathers, another was a man wearing weird sunglasses with a large, yellow Mohawk, and the last one was a bulky man with a blocky jaw line. Sayume was on both of his knees, panting. He was no longer in his battle state, and looked like he had taken quite a beating. I walked over to him, ignoring the other two wizards who were about fifty feet away from him. "Hey Sayume, you need a hand?" He smiled, "No matter what the situation, you always manage to make me smile. I hope by "give me a hand" you mean help me get out of here, because I can tell you're running low on energy too." When he said that, I truly realized how exhausted I was, "Yeah, I do hate to admit it, but I can't fight these guys like this, although I doubt that we will be able to simply run away." "It probably won't work," Sayume said as he stood up. "But let me see if I could talk to him." I didn't have any other option, "Go ahead." Sayume slowly approached the two wizards, of whom I realized one was sleeping on a magic carpet. Sayume slowly spoke, "I-I'm sure as a dark guild you have important business to attend to, and you probably don't have the time to deal with weaklings like us. We will walk away right now and leave you to anything you were already doing should you allow us." Suprisingly, the man appeared to take what Sayume said into consideration. "Fine, leave now." Despite speaking with reluctance, he did not appear to try anything. Sayume quickly walked over to me. "Here," I said while picking him up and placing him on my shoulder, "I'll carry you."

*SAYUME POV*

I was sitting on Nicholai's shoulder, trying to regain some of my strength. I began to think to myself, "I wonder whatever happened to Cobra." I spoke aloud, "Nicholai? What did you end up doing to Cobra?" "With my last attack, I sent him flying down the mountain, along with part of the mountain. I'll be honest with you; I did have the intent to kill him. I'm truly sorry, but he went too far with me, he pushed me over the edge." I spoke under my breath, "No, Nicholai couldn't have killed him, he couldn't have." I tried to see if I could sense any of Cobra's energy. There he was, still by the mountain. He was obviously close to death, but he was still alive. "Nicholai must've really beaten him within an inch of his life." I thought to myself, "I think I'd rather not tell Nicholai."

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**Me: Well, that was quite the interesting ending. I never thought that Brain would be that easy to convince to let you go.**

**Nicholai: Yeah, you didn't even sound to persuading to me.**

**Sayume: Oh shut up, at least I didn't get my butt kicked by just ONE of their members.**

**Me: Ooooooh, buuuurrrrrn.**

**Nicholai: Be quiet before I actually burn you.**

**Me: But if you do that then no one will be able to find out who that hooded figure from chapter 11 was.**

**Nicholai: It's not like I don't already know.**

**Sayume: But I don't!**

**Me: Well I guess we will just have to wait until the next Chapter to find out.**

**Sayume: Dang it**


	13. Family

**Me: Hello once again readers. Before we get on to that character commentary and the chapter, let's say our fun fact of the week. Fun fact of the week: I honestly had a tough time at first figuring out who the hooded figure would be.**

**Nicholai: Yet I already knew it immediately after you posted the chapter, and I must admit, it both makes me happy and pisses me off.**

**Sayume: You STILL haven't told me!**

**Me: Well, all that don't know will be sure to find out in this chapter.**

**Sayume: *sighs*, you really enjoy doing that. Don't you?**

**Me: *Grins* Yeeaaaahhhh...**

**Nicholai: So, can we start the chapter now?**

**Me: Oh, right. Back to that, here's chapter 13**

* * *

*8 Weeks later*

*NICHOLAI POV*

We both flew slowly, observing anything and everything that was happening with the Grimore Heart guildhall from a somewhat safe distance. Who left, who entered, keeping tabs on absolutely everything that we could see. We had decided to take a break, after all, flying after an airship was pretty tiring. I was quite content to continue observing for a while. However, unlike me, someone was being impatient and forgetting the plan, "Nicholai, we've been surveying their guild hall for literally five weeks, not to mention that even with my powers, it took three weeks to track down after fighting the Oracion Seis. When are we going to attack?" Sayume had been complaining for a while now, and I was honestly running out of reasons why we couldn't move foreword with the plan. "We need to know what we are actually going up against. From what I can tell, even one of their seven kin of purgatory could easily take out several of the members of Oracion Seis. All of them together could like this could kill us with ease." Sayume jumped to his feet, "Who's out there?" I had a pretty good idea. A female voice responded, "Don't worry, I'm a friend, I do believe you have both met me before." I easily recognized the voice as the one of that woman I had met in the alleyway, "Is that really you… sister?" She stepped out into the light. Her height left her just a few inches shy of reaching my forehead, she had long, dark brown hair reaching down to her shoulders, and piercing blue eyes, "So, you did figure that out from last time." She walked closer to us, "Well, I guess I couldn't keep that under wraps while helping you." "Sister." "Hm?" I walked up to her with tears streaming down my face and hit her, "NICHOLAI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I snapped at him, "STAY OUT OF IT SAYUME." He backed off. I didn't care that she was a woman, I didn't care that she was my sister, I was angry with her, "WHY WOULD YOU HIDE FROM ME FOR SO LONG? I SPENT SIX YEARS OF MY LIFE THINKING THAT I HAD NO ONE! YOU DON'T SEEM TO HAVE LOST ANY MEMORIES, THAT MUCH I CAN DEDUCE EASILY, BUT WHAT I CAN'T UNDERSTAND IS WHY YOU WAITED SO LONG TO EVEN SHOW YOURSELF TO ME! EVEN WHEN YOU WERE TRYING TO HELP ME AVENGE OUR PARENTS, YOU DIDN'T REVEAL YOUR IDENTITY, I COULD ONLY GUESS WHO YOU WERE!" I broke down in tears. I was unable to stop crying. I just laid there on the ground, in front of my sister, with my palms pressed against my eyes, sobbing. After what seemed like an eternity, but what may have only been a matter of seconds, I felt an embrace. I took my hands off of my face to see my sister that I had just smacked and yelled at, hugging me. I saw tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, "I was worried you might forgive me too easily, I've harbored so much guilt from what I did to you. We were so happy when we were younger, running around and playing as brother and sister, without a care in the world. But, that all changed on that day, the day that they attacked. When the dark mages attacked, you kept a level head, you tried to get me out of there, and in the end, you stayed behind and told me to run. Our parents were dead, and I had no reason to believe you weren't dead too, until two years later, when by sheer luck, I saw you, roaming through the woods. You were older and more developed, but I could tell it was you. I was so happy to finally have found you, to finally have a part of my family back. Then I remembered how all of that disappeared in the time span of a single night, and I almost didn't want to go talk to you, just from the fear of losing my family again. At first, I didn't pay much attention to those feelings, but the more I thought about it, the less anxious I was to say who I was. I had been tailing you for almost an hour, but in the end, I was just too afraid of losing everything again. I had even learned magic at one point, in hopes of avenging our parents myself, but I couldn't even beat Raniel, the weakest of their group. Then, four years after that I heard that an incident had happened involving Raniel, and one of the newest members of the mage guild Fairy Tail, Nicholai Kasai. When I heard this, I had to find you, I couldn't help you by fighting, but I could share with you some information I had gathered. Although, the first time around I didn't have the guts to talk to you directly, so I gave the information you needed to the cat you were traveling with. The next time around, I could face you, but I wasn't willing to tell you who I was. And now, here we are. I finally had the courage to face you, and, although to most it'd be heartbreaking, I felt a great weight lift off of my shoulders when you hit me. So there you have it, my life after becoming an orphan, summarized into almost twenty measly sentences. I am Samantha Kasai, the coward of a sister who didn't even let her own brother know she was alive. A person who, after everything she's done to her little brother, doesn't deserve his forgiveness." I lifted my arms up to wrap them around her, "She's still going to get it." "W-why? Why after everything I did to you?" "To be honest, just knowing that there is someone out there who has suffered to the same extent I have is enough for me, and it's not like I can stay mad at you after hearing that. After all, we are brother and sister." We let go of each other, "Thank you, thank you." Sayume flew over to us, "So, touching moment aside, was there any new information you had for us?" "Actually yes, and you may want to hurry after that airship after you hear this. I found out that Grimore Heart is planning to attack Tenrou Island since they apparently found the black wizard Zeref in that area. It'll be really bad if they do find him. Also, since we both know whom you are going after, know this. You will need to fight Zancrow alone and only alone, and if you don't exactly want to remain completely undetected, you should avoid three of the members of the Guild. Hades, who is their master, Bluenote, who is on par with your guild's Gildarts. and Azuma, who can produce and manipulate trees, even being able to blow them up. Other than these guys, you should be fine fighting anyone else, so long as you don't take on the entire guild other than those three." "Alright, thanks sis. Come on Sayume, we've got to go after them now!" Just before we took off, Samantha grabbed me, "Brother, two things," She reached down to her neck and removed a bronze necklace with a locket matching my bracelet. "Sorry about being four days late, but happy birthday." She clicked the knob on the side to show a picture of a family of four, with the son sitting in the father's lap, and the daughter standing behind the mother, who was sitting, holding hands with the father, "That's us, before everything else happened." She closed it and buckled the necklace onto my own neck, "Keep it, and when you're done, meet me back here." "No problem, and… thanks."

We then both took off at top speed, chasing after the airship, "Sayume, forget observation, we're going full on assault. Don't hold anything back, we have to stop them. This is beyond revenge, we have to do this to help protect my guild mates on the island." "Yeah, in that case, let me carry you so we can at least get rid of Zancrow first. I can drop you straight into the part of the airship where he is, and we can progress from there." I cut off my fire so he could grab me, "Sounds like a plan little buddy." I began to be able to see the massive airship, and below it, vast blue ocean. Sayume pulled to the left of the airship, angling himself facing downwards towards it, "NOW, MAX SPEED!" about twenty five feet away from the wall of the airship, he let go of me, and in the same instant, I burst into flames and braced for impact. I broke through the wall, to see a man with red eyes and long and messy blonde hair, reaching down to his knees, tying a ribbon around his waist. I looked around to see a bed, a closet, and a door most likely leading to a restroom. Apparently, Sayume had thrown me right into Zancrow's bedroom. "Who the hell are you, and why the hell are you in my bedroom?" I gave him a false grin of anger, "Gimme a moment," I turned to Sayume, who was just now flying into the hole I made, "SAYUME, WHY'D YOU THROW ME INTO HIS GODDAMN BEDROOM?" "HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT HE WAS IN HIS BEDROOM? I JUST THREW YOU WHERE I SENSED HIM!" "Oh well, just go make sure no one comes in here, but don't try fighting the three that Sam warned us about," I turned back towards Zancrow, "To answer your questions, I am Nicholai Kasai, a fire dragon slayer from Fairy Tail, and I'm here to avenge my parents, the ones you killed." He smirked, and slowly started to giggle, "Did I now? Oh well, if it were important I would have remembered. Too bad for you dragon hunter, you're not ringin' any bells." At least the others remembered their sins; this bastard just never gave a single damn. "YOU! I'LL DEFEAT YOU!" "Good luck with that, and could you hurry it up? I need to be up at the bridge shortly." I grabbed my scythe and coated it in an even larger coat of flames than usual. "DON'T WORRY, I'LL MAKE THIS QUICK!" "Oh, interesting, I can do that too." He created black flames on his fists and brought them together, forming what looked like a scythe of pure fire, "FLAME GOD'S SCYTHE!" He swung his scythe just as I swung mine, and he parried my strike perfectly, "I… WILL… END YOU!" he smirked, "Heh, you're pretty good for a dragon hunter, but I'm afraid that your power won't be enough." He jumped over me and swung again, I barely managed to block. He then swung his blade one last time, landing a hit on my lower back. "Damn, he's fast. FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Zancrow just stood there, not caring about my attack. The instant it reached him, he opened his mouth and swallowed my attack whole. "Mmm, those were some tasty flames. Too bad that you won't be able to do anything to me with those things though. Now, to finish you off, FLAME GOD'S SUPPER!" He formed what looked like two halves of a jaw made out of his black flames on his arms. "What the hell?" He sent them flying straight towards me. They were too fast, I couldn't evade, and the black flames swallowed me. I grinned, "Did you forget that a dragon slayer can eat their element?" I tried to swallow them, nothing. Once again, still nothing. One more try, yet again nothing, what the hell is going on? "WHY CAN'T I EAT THESE DAMN THINGS?" Zancrow started uncontrollably laughing, "A mere dragon hunter could never consume the flames of a god. It looks like you'll be the one to die toda-!" He was cut off from a strong swing to the head from Sayume. The flames dispersed and Sayume yelled at me, "NOW NICHOLAI, HIT HIM WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!" His attack dispersed, "POISINOUS FLAME DRAGON MODE!" I gathered all the power I could into this attack, "HOW ABOUT YOU TRY EATING THESE FLAMES ZANCROW! POISONOUS FLAME DRAGON ROAR!" Zancrow jumped to his feet, rubbing the side of his head, "WITH PLEASURE!" Cockily, he stood there, ready to once again eat my attack. Just like I planned, he swallowed the entire attack. he let out a small burp, "Fool, just like I said, I can eat anything you dish ou-" Just as Zancrow was gloating, he fell to the ground, clawing at his chest. He could barely even choke out words in his state, "W-WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" I smiled, "Those flames of mine were also mixed with the poison of Cobra, the poison dragon slayer. You ingested enough poison to kill dozens of men, I'm surprised you're even breathing. That confidence of yours was your downfall." "Y-YOU!" In his writhing, he turned his head to face the door, "M-MASTER HADES!" Sayume quickly turned towards him, "Wha-" "Amaterasu: Formula 28." Magic circles formed all around Sayume, and then created a catastrophic explosion "AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!" Sayume dropped down to the floor, unconscious, "NO SAYUME!" I faced Hades, "YOU!" I was too tired from that last attack. He extended his thumb, index and middle fingers, and pointed them at me, "POW!" intantly, a small ball of energy shot out from his fingers. He effortlessly continued to shoot me, "POW! POW! POW! POW!" Before I could do anything, two chains linked directly to him attached themselves to mine and Sayume's shoulders, "Now, the both of you, BEGONE!" he swung the chains, hitting me and Sayume against the wall again and again and again until our limp bodies broke through the metal walls, and he threw us off the airship. Sayume and me were free falling towards the ocean, with no way to stop ourselves. I saw a far off image of a tree sticking out of he ocean, "Tenrou… Island."

* * *

**Me: Well, are you happy Sayume?**

**Sayume: Quite.**

**Nicholai: I didn't really want to say this in front of my her, but thanks for completely ruining the moment between me and my sister.**

**Samantha (I will refer to her as Sam from now on in these): Boo!**

**Nicholai: YOU COULD'VE TOLD ME SHE WAS HERE!**

**Me &amp; Sam: But where's the fun in that? **

**Nicholai: *Groans* First I'm thrown into Zancrow's bedroom, and now this? When do I get a break?**

**Sayume: It seems the only breaks we get are the periods in-between attacking the dark wizards**

**Me: Don't worry. You'll all get a break relatively soon. Depending on where you are in the next chap (HINT HINT!) Anyways, as always, thank you for reading, and I will see you all in the next chapter.**


	14. Bonds beyond death

**Hello readers, and before I start, sorry about uploads being less and less frequent, but I am getting pretty busy with school. Anyways, as always, let's start with the fun fact of the week. Fun fact of the week: One of my favorite music groups is Three Days Grace (Also, I added a small detail involving Nicholai's Birthday and Sam giving him a present in the last chap, so go read that section again so that you aren't a bit confused in parts of this chapter.)**

**Nicholai: They're pretty good**

**Me: Weren't you and Sayume drowning? Not to sound rude.**

**Sayume: I'm here and I wasn't even conscious when we fell out of the airship. **

**Me: I don't want a headache, so let's not read into that. Wait, where's Sam?**

**Sam: Here! You guys are taking way too long with Grimore Heart.**

**Me: Ok, well I really don't see this conversation of ours going anywhere, so let's just start the chapter.**

* * *

I was floating weightlessly. I could tell I was unconscious, but I could feel everything around me. The wetness of the ocean, the push of the current, and the ocean floor brushing up against me. After what felt like minutes in my unconsciousness, I could feel myself hitting the dry sand of a shoreline, but I still couldn't regain my own consciousness. When I did wake, it was to the sound of what I could only describe as an earth-shattering roar. I felt sand under my torso, and waves brushing up on my back, and after several moments of coughing up saltwater, I opened my eyes, "Am… I on… Tenrou Island?" I was. It must have been the next day, because the sun was lower to the east than it had been when I dive-bombed into the Grimore Heart guildhall. It was on this same beach when I myself became S-class. I got up to my feet to see, on the opposite end of the island, a giant black dragon was destroying everything in its path, "No. It can't be. Dragons shouldn't even be around anymore, but still, that isn't just any dragon, that's Acnologia, the black dragon of the apocalypse. I remember. While I had been researching dark guilds, I happened to find an old text about dragons, Dragon Historia. This dragon, it managed to take out an entire country on it's own, and now, it's rampaging on my guild's sacred ground. Damnit!" I turned to my right to see Sayume, eyes wide and mouth hanging open in terror. It was almost as if he was a statue, he looked so paralyzed with fear. "Sayume. You need to get off of the island. Now." Sayume slowly got to his feet and walked over to me. "No, I'm not going to leave you here to die, that's the coward's way out," Despite how horrified he was not a few moments earlier, he smiled at me, "I will stay by your side until the end, that's a promise." I placed my arm around him, pulling him closer to me, "It's going to be ok Sayume, we're going to pull through this." I jumped to my feet still holding Sayume, when yet another scream pounded against my eardrums. This one wasn't the shriek of an animal, it was distorted, but I could recognize that voice anywhere, "THAT WAS MAKAROV! I'VE GOT TO GET TO HIM!" I was weak, out of magic power, and still trying to recover from my little 'swim', but I sprinted towards the alternate end of the island, hoping on my life that I got there in time. The island was several miles across, and the thick vegetation, rough terrain, and aggressive wildlife weren't helping any, "Please, hang in there just a little longer master." Sayume began to move, "Nicholai, your guild mates, the ones who are on this island. I sense them, they're all protecting each other, using everything they've got to defeat this dragon. They're all so incredible, so powerful, but… BUT IT'S NOT ENOUGH, THIS THING IS JUST TOYING WITH THEM!" His words didn't stop me; I kept running, trying to reach them before it was too late. I then heard a voice booming through the forest that I was all too familiar with, "FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" Natsu. He was out there, fighting. I needed to get there to help him, "MY FAMILY IS OUT THERE, I CAN'T LET MYSELF BE TOO LATE TO SAVE THEM! I CAN'T LET THEM DIE!" I began to see a speck of light peek through the trees, "COME ON LEGS, MOVE FASTER!" The clearing opened up to a cliff with a hundred-foot drop. Below it, an area I remembered as having lush greenery, reduced to a barren wasteland of dirt and sand. I saw them, my guild mates, some I knew and some I didn't recognize, joining hands. That dragon, that foul, unholy dragon, was flying straight above the island, preparing a breath attack. The creature almost appeared to be sucking the very ethernano from the air itself, focusing it into it's mouth Sayume saw this, and most likely felt it, but retained a surprisingly calm tone of voice, "Well, Nicholai, it looks like this may be it, our final moments," He escaped my grip and climbed up to sit on my shoulder, "let's show this monster how much stronger our bond is than him." I lifted my hand to pet the back of his head, "Yep. You know Sayume, It was quite the trip we went on together. We fought for each other, we protected each other, and we laughed with each other. Now it seems we are at the road's end. I had fun." Sayume stood up, "Yeah, me too. I guess if I have one regret, it's that we couldn't spend more time together." There were tears in his eyes. The dragon was finished charging its attack, and I felt a tear fall down my face. I grabbed a hold of my sister's necklace, and clicked it open, "I'm sorry Sam. I couldn't make it back to you. Please forgive me. And…" I paused for another moment, "I'm sorry I couldn't avenge you. Mom… Dad… I dishonored your memory. At least… I'll be able to see you two soon enough." The abomination lurched its head back and sent a massive amount of energy heading towards us. Its attack crashed into the island, and then everything went black.

I was sure that the attack had completely wiped out the island, killing everyone including me. For a long time, I was conscious, but I couldn't move, see, feel, or hear anything. Eventually, as if had entered a dream, I could suddenly see a fairly surreal place. It wasn't anywhere I recognized, but the only thing I could make out was that the area was a dark abyss going on infinitely in all directions. "Am I dead?" Something else then appeared, a single speck of light emanating from afar. There was something alluring about the golden light, and as I got closer, it seemed to grow larger and brighter, filling this area. I began to hear a soft, young, female voice, "Nicholai." I got closer to the light and the voice grew ever louder, "You need to wake up. You aren't dead." "Who are you?" The orb of light didn't answer my question, but instead grew duller and duller until it faded completely, and I once again fell into the motionless, senseless hell of a state of consciousness that I had been in before.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Knowing that this was all there was, this was the only thing I could fathom, the only thing keeping me on the edge of sanity. I seemed to be waiting for a near eternity for whatever that orb was to come back. When my senses returned once again, I found myself in the same abysmal, eternally dark place as before. This time however, I felt a horrid presence. In the darkness, it was difficult to see, but there was another, somehow darker, darkness subtly embedded within the abyss. No, it's almost as if its presence was the abyss, "Who is that?" No response, "Are you the one from before?" It seemed like a stupid question, but anything seemed possible after this long. I still received no answer, but instead, the underlying darkness shifted to almost face me. I ran, and the dark mass chased after me. As I sprinted, a sound emanated from the darkness, sounding almost like chuckling. A raspy, decomposed, and sadistic voice followed it, "People call you by my very name, and then when you are faced with me, you run. Hilarious." I knew who the voice was claiming to be, and I kept running. A dot of light appeared in the distance, and I mustered all of my strength to run towards it. The same voice from the light called out once more, "Hurry Nicholai. You don't have much longer." A hand extended from the light. The darkness screamed after me, "NO, YOU CAN'T LEAVE HERE!" dozens of hands erupted from it, reaching for me in a frantic act to prevent me from leaving. I was inches from the hand of light, but the hands were preventing me from making a single other move. They began to pull me back into the dark. I was thrashing around frantically, struggling to escape their grasp, and as I did so, my opened locket swung around my neck and in front of my face. I came into contact with the dark mass, but seeing that picture sparked something in me, "No, I can't die. I've got someone to live for, and I promised her that I would come back. So…" The darkness had me halfway covered, "I won't…" My head was the only part of me not consumed, "LET YOU KILL ME!" I forced myself out of the blackness, which was still clawing at me. I reached out towards the hand of light, which was quickly fading as it had last time. "DON"T YOU LEAVE JUST YET! I'VE GOT SOMEONE I NEED TO GO BACK TO!" The darkness bellowed, filling this endless chamber with its voice, "YOU CAN'T LEAVE! YOU'RE MINE! YOU BELONG IN THIS WORLD!" I tried to block out everything except for the light, it was all I needed to focus on, it was my only chance of living. I grabbed a hold of the light's hand, and the darkness all around me was obliterated, leaving me on my knees, in the middle of the Tenrou Island forest. The hand I was grasping was actually two, one of a young woman with long, wavy blonde hair, and the other, Sayume. The girl spoke, "Hello Nicholai. You've been asleep for a while."

* * *

**Me: Well, is it safe to assume that what just happened actually did happen?**

**Nicholai: Of course**

**Me: Well, you literally escaped that person who I will not mention by name because I want the reader to figure out who it was. HINT: It's not a character in Fairy Tail.**

**Nicholai and Sayume: *Grins* It waaassssss...**

**Me: *Ties both of them up in a bundle of rope and duct tape* Nothing to see here.**

**Mavis: *giggles* You are all pretty funny.**

**Sam: *Whispers into mine and Mavis's ears* I don't know whether to help them, or to wait until Nicholai realizes he can burn the ropes and tape.**

**Me and Mavis: The latter is a better idea.**

**Me: Well, while we enjoy the show, I want to say thanks once again for reading.**

**Sam: Don't forget to leave a review, follow, and maybe even favorite the story.**

**Mavis: And we will see you, in the next chapter.**

**All three: Bye-bye!**


	15. The Sister of Nicholai

**Well, it's almost that time of year again, THANKSGIVING! Anyways, as you can tell, I'm excited, but before I get too into talking about one of my favorite holidays, let's look at the fun fact of the week. Fun Fact Of The Week: I just found out that every year, the president pardons a turkey from the thanksgiving dinner table.**

**Nicholai: You must really like thanksgiving… and SO DO I! **

**Sayume: ME TOO! I LOVE FOOD!**

**Sam: Boys...**

**Me, Nicholai, and Sayume: Every party needs a pooper, that's why they invited you. Party pooper, party pooper.**

**Sam: Can we start the chapter?**

**Me: Okay… here's chapter fifteen!**

* * *

"What the hell… just happened?" I let go of Sayume and the girl's hands, only for Sayume to jump on top of me, sobbing, "I thought you were going to die Nicholai!" I hugged him. Even though I had no idea what he was talking about, I could tell that a lot of stuff went on while I had been wherever I had been. I let go of Sayume to look back to the woman. "You! You were the voice of that light. Who exactly are you?" Sayume stared at me, confused, "Who are you talking to?" I pointed at the woman, "That girl right there." "That's strange. I've been sensing a massive energy right there ever since I woke up. I think it may have been what woke me up since you only woke up after a large amount of that energy was transferred to you, and it was next to me when I woke up. Despite that, there's no one there." "I dunno what you're seeing lil' buddy, but I see a woman right over there. Long, wavy blonde hair, big white dress with green and blue designs, and small white wings sticking out of either side of her head." She smiled, "I'm Mavis Vermillion, Fairy Tail's first master. Currently, I'm just an astral body, and I can only be seen, felt, or heard by people in fairy Tail. Allow me to show you what happened to you both." She raised her hands up to he heavens as a golden light enveloped the surrounding area. When the light faded, we were no longer in the forest; we were standing in open air, hundreds of feet above the ocean surrounding the island. "AGH!" I fell down only to land seamlessly while Sayume flew out of my hands on instinct. I pressed my hand to the image of the air that had felt like a surface to feel the tips of grass blades, "What?" The girl spoke while Sayume was behind her, who was slowly lowering himself towards the now invisible, actual ground, "It's an illusion that I've created. We're still in the forest, I'm just projecting the image of what happened on the environment," she pointed behind me, "Just look." I spun around to see the black dragon once again preparing to destroy the island. Sayume turned as well and screamed at the sight of the abomination. I put my hand up behind me as a way of telling Sayume not to freak out, "It's just an illusion. The girl is showing us what happened to the island." I tried to focus on every tiny detail present. Just as it had before, it took a few moments to gather energy, and then it sent the attack straight for the island, but this time, I saw something else. It was only for a moment, but I was sure I saw it. Just before the attack hit, a large golden dome formed around the island, "So, that's how we're alive." "Mhm, although in your case, that's only part of it. Either way, that dome, it's called Fairy Sphere, an absolute defense that protects all affiliated with the guild. I could only cast it because of the bonds of you and the other members of the guild. I've got something else to show you now." She raised her hands once more to change the scene. We were now back in the forests of the island, and I could see an unconscious Natsu being shaken awake by a significantly older-looking Jet. "Why is Jet?" She answered me before I could finish, "It's because you and everyone else were sealed in Fairy Sphere for seven years. As you can see here, it was the other members' presence that allowed the others to wake from their slumber. Because you were so far away from everyone else and the fact that no one else knew that you were on the island at the time, you had to wake up on your own. The longer one goes undisturbed after Fairy Sphere is dispersed, the harder it is to wake them up. As you can tell, even with my slight help, those two factors caused you two to wake up a lot later. Even with all my help, you two woke up about eight months later to be exact. In your case, you and the exceed were actually in such a deep state of a coma, that you were both a hair away from death, although you more than him." I couldn't help my desire to go out and embrace those illusions. It had been so long since I had even seen any of them, "Eight years. I haven't seen them in eight years, nor have they seen me," I pressed my hand to my face, trying to hide my tears, "I'm sorry. I made you all worry about me." These illusions, they just seemed too lifelike to be apparitions, and I felt nothing wrong with directly talking to them. I felt a hand brush up against my cheek, wiping a tear from my face, "Don't cry Nicholai." Mavis got rid of the illusion and walked over to Sayume, who promptly jumped back, "Why's the energy heading over to me?" Mavis leaned over Sayume, staring at him questioningly, "This exceed over here can't see me, but he says he can sense me. Why is that?" I raised an eyebrow, "Well, he's got a pretty interesting ability to sense one's inner energy. Also, what's an exceed?" Sayume must've really have been thinking I've lost my marbles, and the look in his face made me speak up, "Sayume, I'm talking to this woman right now, who's actually a sort of projection of the first master of Fairy Tail," I turned back towards Mavis, "So… exceeds?" "Oh, well, exceeds are basically intelligent, walking, and talking cat-like beings that often have inherent and impressive abilities, which explains your friend's ability." While amazed by this new knowledge, I had another question, "Thank you, you saved us, but how did Fairy sphere protect Sayume? He's not an official wizard in Fairy Tail." Mavis smiled even more, "Well, Fairy Sphere is based on bonds and was activated by your guild's bonds. The spell obviously couldn't tell a difference between your bond between him and them, as you treat him just as you would anyone else in the guild, like family." Sayume spoke up, using what he gathered from my half of the conversation and the illusions, "So, everyone who wasn't on the island is now seven years older?" I smiled, "Pretty much." "Also," He walked over to where I presumed he could sense Mavis, and began to randomly wave his hands in front of himself, "The first master is standing right here, but I can't see her, feel her, or hear her because I don't have the Fairy Tail guild mark?" "Correct." "Hmph, weird. Can she hear what I say?" Mavis nodded, "Yes I can." I turned back towards Sayume, "Yeah, loud and clear." "Alright. Miss Mavis, thank you. We'd all be dead had you not been here. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask." Mavis once again told me what to tell him, "She says to cherish the bond you and I have with each other, because it's what really saved us." "Promise me you two." We both then spoke to her in unison, "Don't worry, we will." She then began to float higher and higher, "My guild truly has grown to be something amazing. I wish you luck in your endeavors."

She was gone. Now, back to what we were doing. "Sayume, could you try to find Zancrow again?" "Umm, sure… WHAT?" "What is it?" "Well, apparently… he's dead." He was talking as if he was in trouble, "I'm not mad at you, as far as I'm concerned, he got what he deserved. Wait, was it me that killed him, or someone else?" Sayume shook his head, "No, it's not you that killed him, I sense that he died from a form of death magic, not your poison." "Ok. Well, now all we need to do is find Raniel, how 'bout him? Where's he?" "Nicholai. Did you seriously forget?" "Forget what?" Sayume sighed as a large drop of sweat formed on his forehead and he pressed his furry paw to his face, "Your… SISTER!" I let out a groan, "You know, I didn't forget, I'm just really afraid of seeing her after keeping her waiting for eight years." I went into a sudden depression, "I see now why she wouldn't keep relations with anyone." "Oh well Nicholai, your keeping her waiting is all the more reason to go see if she's still there, even if she will beat the living crap out of you." "You're not helping the situation. Could you at least see if you can find her?" "Sure, now that I've actually paid attention to her energy, this should be easy." He paused for a moment, and his eyes grew wide, "I-I've got it. She's exactly where she said she'd be. Seven years ago, and now, she's in the same place." I felt a tsunami of guilt swallow me whole, "Ugh, I'm the worst brother ever." Sayume flew over to me, picking me up and heading towards where he had sensed her while I got to think of the endless amount of things she could justifiably do to me as punishment.

Just my luck, before I had even noticed it, we arrived where she had been waiting. I could see her, that long brown hair of hers, and surprisingly, that same smile I saw seven years ago. When she saw Sayume and I touch down, she sprinted for me, with tears flowing down her face and a smile stretching from ear to ear. "NICHOLAI!" I smiled too, "Hey Sam." She tackled me in an embrace. "I knew you were alive, I knew you wouldn't let yourself die. It may have taken seven years, but you're finally back. Oh, and speaking of taking seven years," She slapped me right across the face, still smiling, "it took just about that long for me to work up the guts to do that to you for making me wait." I turned to Sayume and spoke under my breath, "I was expecting something worse than a slap." He spoke even quieter, to the point where even I could barely hear him, "I know right?" My sister began talking once again, "Well, now that you're here, I have both good news and bad news." I got up from the ground, "Bad news first." "Alright, Raniel has somehow managed to join Sabertooth, despite the bounty that is still on his head after these years. In your seven-year absence, it became Fiore's number one guild, but once everyone else who supposedly died on Tenrou Island came back, Fairy Tail became top guild again. So, we are going to have to figure out a way to get to Raniel without starting a three man war against their whole guild." Sayume and I both responded at the same time, "I wouldn't mind that. Either way, what's the good news?" She smiled proudly, "Well, there are actually two things. First of all, we actually know where Raniel is. Secondly, in these past seven years, I have been training to become strong enough to defeat Raniel. From what I've heard about his power, I surpassed him a long while back, who knows? I may have even surpassed you as well." "Wait," I talked slowly, "How come you haven't already tried to get revenge on Raniel if you surpassed him?" "Why do you think? I was waiting for you dumb-dumb; they weren't just my parents he killed. I think it's finally time I help in this endeavor." "Awesome, so just to clarify, storming the Sabertooth Guild is not an option?" She began to get aggravated, "NO! I DON'T PLAN ON GOING TO WAR WITH THE SECOND STRONGEST WIZARD GUILD IN THE COUNTRY!" "Ok, ok. Um, Sayume, see if he isn't in the guild hall, just in case." As he would always do, Sayume took a second to focus before responding, "Umm, Ms. Samantha? Where exactly is their guild hall?" "I'm actually not too sure, where do you sense him?" "Well, the place he is in should be the town of Acalypha, is that still what it's called?" She answered awkwardly, "Yeah? Why wouldn't it have the same name? You guys were gone for seven years, not an entire lifetime." "Well, we have our next destination set. Let's head to Acalypha Town before he leaves. I guess I need to carry both of you." He entered his battle mode only to be interrupted by me, "No, it's alright, I can fly myself. Just fly Sam there." He went back to his base form, slightly disappointed, "Alright," He flew over to Sam, picking her up by the back of her shirt, "B-be careful Sayume, I'm not exactly comfortable with heights, especially since a cat that is about one fifth my size is the one carrying me." He started to lift her off of the ground, "Yeah yeah. Hang on tight, I'll be going extra fast so we don't lose Raniel." "Hey!" I yelled at them while they were already fifty feet in the air, "Wait up!" I bolted after the two of them, slightly struggling to catch up. Within about two hours of flying silently, we were coming up on Acalypha. Sayume broke the silence, "Nicholai, Miss Samantha, We should probably touch down if you don't want him seeing us." "All right little buddy," I slowly pulled back the power of my flames, allowing me to descend while Sayume glided down. When I touched down, I turned to see Sayume making a face that made him look like he was about to delver bad news, "Nicholai, we need to hurry after him, if this layout of the town is still the same, He is about to get on a train." I nearly puked at the mention of a locomotive, but Sam didn't hesitate and immediately ran to where I assume was the train station. I had to get over the thought of my motion sickness and me and Sayume chased after her, making sure not to lose sight of her. As we ran, the train station came into sight, and I could see a slightly older Raniel boarding the train, and suddenly my whole mind focused on getting to him. Despite Sam having a generous lead on me, my rage made me easily pass her, and I was within reach of Raniel in seconds. I covered my fist in flames and let out a blood-curdling scream, "RANIEL!" Raniel turned to see me, and his eyes widened and he froze. I landed a punch right on the bridge of his nose, most likely breaking it as it became misshapen. He flipped backwards several times and landed about fifteen feet away. I heard Sam's voice from my left, slightly drowned out my by heavy breathing, "You know you could've left some fight for me." I sighed, "Sorry, I just have been getting like that whenever I see those people. I go into an uncontrollable fit of rage, and everything in my mind makes me focus on attacking them." "Oh well, let's just tie him up and get him to the collection office." "Alright, sorry again" She turned to face where I had sent Raniel flying, "Don't sweat i-" She paused, and I also turned to face where Raniel should have been, only, he wasn't there. Me and Sam yelled, "WHERE THE HELL DID HE GO!?" We both turned to see Sayume floating towards us, "I was going to tell you guys, but you were too busy talking about that 'fight' that just happened. He suddenly disappeared and I sensed his energy heading towards Magnolia, and unless you feel like flying some more," He gestured to the train which was now leaving, "we need to get on that train now. It should also be heading for Magnolia." I gagged, "Oh god. Fine, let's get it over with." There was an open cargo car on the train that we made a break for. First Sam jumped in, then Sayume, and lastly, me. In almost the exact same instant that I touched the floor of the car, a wave of nausea hit me, "Sayume, could you be a pal and knock me out?" I knew he didn't like fighting or even harming other living things if he didn't find it necessary, but I wouldn't be able to bear much more of this motion sickness. Just as Sayume was about to speak up, Sam approached me, "Don't worry, I can do it. I guess I can consider this payback for not letting me get a hit in." She hit me square in the abdomen, causing me to black out.

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**Me: It sure is a lot quieter and more awkward when Nicholai isn't conscious to lighten the mood**

**Sayume and Sam: *Stare intently at the walls of the train car***

**Me: Well you two have fun with that, but in the meantime, thanks for reading-**

**Nicholai: *mumbles while still unconscious* don't forget to *snores* review, follow and *snores again* favorite if you enjoyed.**

**Me: Yeah… what he said.**


	16. Reunion

**Before I start talking to you guys or start the chapter, I need to say that I'm sorry. It's been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long since I last updated, but to make up for it, I have made this chapter especially long. As always, lets hear the fun fact of the week before I get chewed out by those three! Fun fact of the week: School seems to be determined to ruin the social lives of all teenagers.**

**Nicholai, Sam, and Sayume: WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?**

**Me: Oh boy… here we go. As you could guess from the fun fact of the week, school has made me really busy recently.**

**Nicholai, Sam, and Sayume: THAT'S STILL NO EXCUSE!**

**Me: But! I did prepare an extra long, special, and overall happy chapter for you guys since I've been gone for so long.**

**Nicholai, Sam, and Sayume: Fine, we'll only beat you up if the chapter isn't amazing.**

**Me: Fair enough! ANYWAYS, Here's chapter 16 (Holy crap we're already at 16 chapters!)**

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I felt someone lightly nudging my shoulder, "Nicholai, Nicholai, wake up." I could tell that the train had stopped, since I was no longer sick. Sam was sitting next to me with her back to the wall of the car with one leg extended and the other bent with her hands meeting at her knee. Sayume was still lightly pushing his paw onto my shoulder. I stirred, "We there?" Sayume nodded, "Yeah, and guess what? I sense two people fighting Raniel at the moment, and they appear to be winning. They should be easy to find, as I gathered that they're both dragon slayers. If you want to make sure you turn him in, you'll need to really hurry up when heading down there." I got up and stopped at the door of the car, "Alright, I'll go fetch Raniel, you two just wait outside the train station." Sayume nodded, "Alright." I turned to look back towards Sam, who gave me a smile and thumbs up. I ran out of the train station, into the streets of Magnolia. Even after almost eight years, the city seemed almost unchanged. It was nice being back home after all this time; after all, I have been gone for a really long time. The streets were covered with a light coat of snow and a few patches of ice, matching what I had always thought winter would look like here. Although, despite being overcome by a sense of nostalgia, I remembered what I needed to do, and I focused once again. I needed to listen and look for a fight that would be on the level of dragon slayers. Just then, not too far from me, I heard two synchronized voices, one high pitched, and one significantly lower scream, "GRASS LIGHTNING EXPLOSION!" Just a few blocks away, I saw a giant sphere of yellow energy, and after a few seconds, it slowly welled down and dispersed. "That must be them." I said under my breath. I ran down several alleyways until I reached where the fight had been going on, where I saw two green haired teens, a guy and a girl, along with two exceeds, celebrating what I assumed was their defeat over Raniel. I was slightly hesitant to go out there, as it seemed they had just fought hard to defeat him. The guy was on his knees, panting, while the girl was fist pumping. It took a second, but after seeing the Fairy Tail insignia on them, I got over my fear and walked out there.

Just as I did so, the boy rose to his feet and limped over to stand in front of the girl, who gently pushed him off to the side. She spoke, "Hey! I can't have my little brother defending me all the time you know!" _They see me as a threat?_ I thought to myself, _Although, if I were in their shoes, I wouldn't immediately think a figure that just jumped out of an alleyway wearing a cloak and wielding a scythe was an ally_." I walked closer, _it's okay Nicholai_, I thought, _just take Raniel and go, you can explain yourself later_. When I reached Raniel, I slung his limp body over my shoulder in silence, and turned to leave. I was stopped by that girl's voice, "Hey! What are you doing? We need to turn this pervert in! Who are you anyway?" A question I did not want to answer at the moment had been thrown at me, and despite not really wanting to answer; my conscience got the best of me. I turned around and uncovered my right arm, showing my guild mark as I spoke, "I guess I should explain. I'm an s-class wizard from Fairy Tail. I took an s-class quest quite a while ago to hunt down and turn this man in. My exceed Sayume sensed his presence here, and found him beaten." She gave me a frustrated look, "That still doesn't explain who you are." I was silent for a moment, "My name is Nicholai Kasai." She shrugged, "I don't really care what your name is, but if you have no other business here you better leave. NOW!" She had some quality that made me slightly afraid of her and frustrated at the same time. I let out a heavy sigh, "Judging by how you acted towards this murderer here," I dropped and lightly kicked Raniel, "as I came, I figured you would be like thi-" I abruptly stopped talking when my eyes met the boy's, which reflected one and only one emotion… pure, unadulterated, terror. The girl stared at me inquiringly. "Well," I picked Raniel back up, "I've got a bone to pick with this bastard. He took my family from me. Either way, I'll be leaving now. Oh, if you see him, please tell Natsu that his brother is back in town."

I walked back to the train station in silence, and I had to admit, I felt guilty about what I just did. Just then, Sayume and Sam came into view. "Good, you're back lil' bro, and I see you got that bastard with you." She pointed to Raniel. I saw tears form in her eyes from the sight of him, "Could you set him down Nicholai?" "Um, sure." I threw him off of my shoulder and onto the ground. Sam immediately started to kick him relentlessly, "You murderer! You took my life from me!" With every kick, I heard the cracking of bones, and each time, his chest looked more and more like it had somehow imploded. I hated him too, but this was getting cruel. I stuck my leg out to prevent her from kicking him anymore, "Sam! I understand how you feel, but you can't be like this!" She stopped trying to kick him and covered her face with her sleeve. I could hear muffled sobbing, "Damnit. How can you be so forgiving? Don't you remember? HE'S THE ONE WHO TOOK OUR PARENTS, NOT TO MENTION YOUR MEMORIES!" "I know that, and I absolutely despise him for it, but we can't stoop to his level. Think of what mom and Dad would say if they saw us doing this." She stopped crying, "Alright, let's just go and turn him in." I picked him back up, "Yeah, come on Sayume."

We walked off to the collection office, wherein; we turned Raniel in for his total bounty of ten million jewel. I split it up a total of four ways, two million for me, two million for Sam, two million for Sayume, and the other four million for those dragon slayers and their exceeds. We walked out of the collection office and just began to wander the streets of Magnolia. Eventually, I spoke up "Well, now that all of that is taken care of, I think I should introduce the two of you to Fairy Tail." Sayume smiled, "Awesome!" Sam on the other hand, seemed a bit nervous, "Are you sure you want me going with you?" I set my hand on her shoulder, "Of course I do, and once you join, you'll see just how truly accepting the guild is. I was just some random person one of their guild members found roaming in the woods, but they didn't care. They accepted me for who I was just as a family does." With that, it seemed that every ounce of doubt she had vanished, "Okay, let's go." We walked down the center of Magnolia, and about halfway towards the guildhall, I saw two figures charging at me from the direction of the guild. One with spiky pink hair, and the other with a coat of blue fur and angelic wings, "NICHOLAIIIIII!" I had never been so happy to see a cat and a pyrotechnic running at me yelling my name, even though that specific instance had never happened to me until now. Tears formed in my eyes at the sight of them after so long, and I began sprinting towards him too. As I got closer, I saw tears in both of their eyes. I swung my arms around the two of them, too overwhelmed with happiness to speak. "Where were you Nicholai? Everyone in the guild thinks you're dead, I did too." I hugged the both of them tighter, "I'm sorry, but it's a really long story. I'm here now though, you don't have to worry about me anymore." "Nicholai," Happy sobbed, "Don't ever do that again. We care about you, and we don't ever want to lose you. You're a part of our family." I tried to comfort the both of them more, but I was too overcome by the joy of seeing them. We all just stood there embracing until Natsu broke the silence.

Just like Natsu has always been, he suddenly went back to that carefree, likeable, and joyous person that I remembered him to be, "So who are these two?" He gestured to Sam and Sayume, who had actually been awkwardly standing there during our reunion. "Well, this," I pointed to Sam, "is my sister, Samantha, but I just call her Sam," Natsu became wide eyed as if to say, "WHAAAAAT?" Ignoring this, I continued, "and this," I moved my finger towards Sayume, "is Sayume. They were both incredible helps in my mission, which ended up taking longer than it should have due to a few 'additions' to the roster of dark wizards I had to track down and beat." "Well," Natsu smiled, "it sounds like you've been on quite the adventure." He turned to Sam and Sayume, "It's great to meet you two. Now," he spoke in a more sarcastic tone, "how about we go show the rest of the guild that you aren't dead?" I laughed, "Won't that be quite the surprise?" We strolled down towards the guildhall, regaling each other with our adventures over the past years. I was walking ahead of the rest of the group with Natsu next to me, while Sam and Sayume lagged behind us, talking to Happy, "Wow, you fought all of those guys too?" I shrugged, "Well, I didn't really fight all of them, Erigor was wearing handcuffs after all. I also developed and or stole a new variant of my dragon slayer magic from Cobra that I like to call poisonous flame dragon mode." Natsu slowed down, "Really? That's cool, both Gajeel, who happens to be the iron dragon slayer, and me have the same sort of thing. He can do iron shadow dragon mode, and I've got lighting flame dragon mode." I raised my fists playfully, "Well, I'll have to fight the two of you sometime. So, I assume that that green haired dragon slayer girl or her brother told you I was coming back." "Yeah. Just so you know, that boy is named George and his yellow exceed is named Ackerly, That girl is named Grace, and her blue-furred exceed is called Amy." _Ok,_ I thought to myself, _at least now I know who they are so I can thank them later._ My thinking was interrupted by what looked like a much larger version of the guildhall, "WOAH! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GUILDHALL?" "Oh yeah, I guess you were never here for that. To make another long story short, the guild was destroyed, so master remade it to be even larger and in my opinion, a bit too excessive. This happened twice actually, although the second time, it was just sold and taken down." I placed my hand on the door, and with a slight amount of nervous hesitation, pushed the door ajar.

The layout of the guild was more open, and with more members to go along with that. Many of those I knew seemed older, as I had expected. Those who had known me stood there, staring in awe, while those who didn't know me were completely puzzled. Erza was the first to speak, "N-Nicholai. You're alive?" "As much as I'll ever be." Unexpectedly, a crowd of several of the other members including Macao, Freed, Bickslow, Erza, and the entire team Shadow Gear, ran towards me, looking ready to tackle me. Not wanting to hurt them, I let them tackle me against my better judgment. Their combined weight, especially since Droy seemed to have gained hundreds of pounds, crushed me, preventing almost all movement. I could hardly speak under the pile of people, "I'VE HEARD OF TOUGH LOVE BUT SHEESH! YOU ARE ALL INHIBITING MY BREATHING WITH THIS DOGPILE!" I squirmed to the front of the pile to see Makarov chuckling, "How are you enjoying your welcome back?" I heated myself up slightly just to make them want to get off of me, "Absolutely fantastic." "Well what do you expect? We thought you've been dead for these past years." His voice took on a more serious tone, "I've been truly worried about you Nicholai, we all have. You know how I think of all those that have grown up in membership of this guild as my children. I have faith in all of my children, including you, but even for a parent, eight years can be quite the shaker of faith. You can tell me the full story some other time. Right now, we can celebrate your return to your home." I began to sob, "Thank you Master," I soon grinned at the irony of the situation, "You know, this is the second time in the past day I've cried in front of one of the Fairy Tail guild masters. Mavis saved me, and you welcome me back with open arms." Makarov spoke in that comforting voice of his, "You will always be welcome here, and after all, you are a part of our Fairy Tail family." Natsu placed his hand on my shoulder, "Don't be crying, now should be a happy time, you're finally back after all of these years." "Right." Makarov gestured behind me, where I saw Sam and Sayume entering the guildhall along with Happy, "Who might those two be?" "Well," I turned to face them, "Why don't you introduce yourselves?" Sayume flew forwards, "Well, my name is Sayume, and as you may already be able to tell, I'm an exceed, but don't underestimate my power just because I'm small. I'm quite the fighter." Sam jumped over the pile of my friends, still trying to get off of each other, "And I'm Samantha, Nicholai's sister. You can call me Sam if you feel like it." If master wasn't already shocked, he certainly was now. "Very well then," Makarov clapped his hands together, trying to regain his composure, "Now that that's out of the way, let us rejoice in the return of a member of our family, as well as the introduction of two more members!" everyone in the guild cheered, "Yeah!"

As the party began, Natsu led me around the guildhall, introducing me to some of the new members that joined while I was gone. The first people he introduced me to were a young blonde girl, and an even younger looking girl with dark blue hair with a white-furred exceed held in her arms. The blue-haired girl spoke first, "Hi, I'm Wendy Marvell. I think I heard Erza say your name was Nicholai?" She seemed nice enough, "Yeah, that's me. Who might that exceed be?" The feline took what I would consider a slightly annoyed tone of voice when speaking to me, "My name is Carla, please don't talk to me like that." "Oh… sorry." The blonde talked next, "So, I noticed you and Natsu walk in together. Do you guys know each other?" I was going to answer her faster, but I couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed with her overly peppy tone of voice, "Yeah. In fact, you could consider him my adoptive brother as he did find me and train me as a wizard." When I said that, she looked almost ready to pass out, "B-brother!?" Just to annoy her, I acted even more careless of the fact. "Yeah, what's the big deal?" Carla interrupted, "Please tell me you aren't as much of a pyrotechnic as he is." I slowly lit my hand on fire, making sure that nothing would actually be set ablaze, "Well, I do know dragon slayer magic, but other than that I don't know why you'd really call me a pyro. It's not like I enjoy burning down buildings." When I said that, it seemed like all three of their heads turned to Natsu.

As we continued to talk, another person approached the table. This one was a tall man with a long black mullet and piercings above his eyes, "So, you're the Salamander's brother huh? You don't look that tough to me." Despite just getting back, I was up for a fight, "You wanna go punk?" The man's arm suddenly turned into a long iron rod, "Absolutely." "So, you must be the iron dragon slayer Gajeel. I've heard from Natsu that you may be pretty strong." He swung at me, "You're about to find out firsthand!" I put my hand up to block his attack, and caught it with the attack pushing me back two feet. I quickly slithered my arm around his to make sure he couldn't move, "What the hell?" The hand that I had previously lit was cloaked in fire once again as I held his arm, "My turn." I hit him straight in the face, knocking him down to the ground. The Lucy, Wendy, and Carla were staring at me, jaws hanging open. I smiled, "You know, it seems that people underestimate you a lot when you're younger than them." Gajeel got back to his feet, "This fight isn't over yet." Just as he was about to attack once again, a small, black-haired exceed with distinct round ears stepped in between the two of us, "That's enough Gajeel, you could end up destroying the guild hall again if you actually try to fight him." The exceed turned to face me, "Hey, I'm Pantherlily. Sorry about Gajeel, he's been looking to win a fight recently after this new grass dragon slayer girl joined Fairy Tail and defeated him pretty easily." I felt kinda bad for the cat, "Don't worry about it. I actually kind of wanted a fight." Sayume flew over after he saw Pantherlily, "Hey, who're you?"

Pantherlily introduced himself once again, "Interesting, as you probably heard me say back there, I'm Sayume." Sayume took notice of the mini-sword sheathed on Lily's back, "Oh, you carry a weapon too. Can you go into battle mode shift too?" Lily looked legitimately surprised, "Wait, how old are you?" Sayume started to do math with his fingers, "Well, not counting the seven year time skip, by the way, don't ask about that, I'm almost seven years old." "Incredible, I was more than twice that age before I could achieve battle mode shift." Pantherlily's personality seemed like it had undergone a big change since he interrupted me and Gajeel's 'fight' not a few seconds ago, "How about I test your strength? You feeling up for some sparring?" Sayume wasn't acting as timid as I remembered him to, "Sure." They both unsheathed their weapons, as they grew larger and more muscular, "Hm, you use a staff? Good choice, but I prefer a sword." Sayume shrugged, "Well, we all have our preferences, but do you know what the advantage of having an expanding staff indoors is?" Lily got into a fighting stance, "What might that be?" Sayume did the same, "Let me show you." They charged at each other, swinging and parrying and swinging again. Sayume pulled a move that I recognized as the one he used in training that I could never evade. Sayume faked a falter in his movements, allowing Pantherlily to try and go for a finishing hit. Lily had raised both of his arms up to deliver the final blow and Sayume stopped faking to swing for Lily's feet. It worked. Lily was knocked off his feet and Sayume quickly dashed in-between him and the floor. Sayume flipped his staff to make it vertical, then extending it, sending Lily flying into the ceiling, "That's what my advantage was. I could expand my weapon to the point where you will hit the ceiling, and unlike your sword, I didn't have to worry about tearing a hole in your stomach" Just as Sayume was about to de-extend his staff, a giant red blade came down inches from his face. Sayume grinned and looked up to see Lily still holding his sword and extending it all the way down to the floor. Sayume shrunk himself and his staff, causing Lily to fall to the floor and do the same. Lily seemed thoroughly impressed, "You're quite the fighter for your age, I have to admit." Sayume crossed his arms, "You're not too bad either." Sayume strolled back over to me as Lily and Gajeel stomped away, "I came over here to tell you that me and Sam have officially joined the guild." He lifted up the drawstring bag on his back to reveal a black fairy tail mark to contrast with his silver fur. "Awesome little buddy."

Natsu came back over to us, bringing with him a dark blue haired woman, who I couldn't help but notice that her hair reminded me of water flow. "So, who are you Ms…" "Juvia. Juvia Lockser." "Juvia. Ok. It's nice to meet you. I'm-" She interrupted, "Nicholai. I heard master call you that." Even though I didn't exactly enjoy talking to new people like this, it would've been even worse if I remained silent, "So, how's life going?" She blushed and turned to face Gray, who was on the completely opposite end of the guildhall, "It's always amazing so long as my darling Gray is here!" As she continued to blush and stare at Gray, I tiptoed over to Natsu, "We should probably walk away now before I start catching her insanity. Believe me, it's amusing, but I don't think it's very healthy." Natsu had no quarrel with the thought. "Natsu, are there any more new members?" He thought out loud while adding up new members with his fingers, "Well, there was Lucy, Juvia, Gajeel, Wendy, Carla, and Lisanna isn't exactly new, but she was gone for two years, so you haven't met her yet. There's also Pantherlily, Luke, Grace, and George." He seemed to see something and he looked over my shoulder, "Speak of the devil. How's it going George?" Dread overcame me as I turned around to see George. I had to make it up to him. "George. I'm really sorry for earlier, but I've got two things for you as reprimand." I walked up to him, removing my cloak and dropping my scythe. I shoved my hand into one of my pockets; fishing for the roll of money I had decided to give him. Presenting the jewel, I spoke slowly, "Here you go. Two-million jewel," I put my other hand behind my back and lowered my head, "And any physical payback you may feel like exacting." I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for impact. Nothing. I opened my eyes and looked up to see his face redder than a hot pepper, and him staring straight at me in complete embarrassment. He choked out, "No… It's fine… Really." Now I felt bad for embarrassing him. I scratched the back of my head in slight embarrassment as well, "You know, I just wanted to make it up to you. Please don't get embarrassed, or I'll feel even guiltier." After a few more seconds of being utterly flustered, I spoke again, "Well, if you aren't going to hit me, at least take the money. You earned it by beating Raniel." He still stood there, nearly motionless, as I kept my arm extended. I was determined to make sure he was repaid for helping me. I walked up to him, slapping the bundle of cash into his palm, "If you won't accept it as payment, accept it as a gift for helping me. I won't let you walk away without some compensation, so please go ahead and take it." I felt his fingers slowly contract around the roll as he nodded, "Alright." After he had taken the money, he walked over to Natsu, who raised his hand for a high-five, "Hey, what's going on?" George, ignoring this, whispered something into Natsu's ear. His face immediately shifted from joyful to deadly serious, "Get Luke. We're heading over there, now." I walked over to them, "Why? What's going on?" Natsu faced me, "It's nothing you need to worry about, just stay here and enjoy the party." I reluctantly remained where I was as they went to fetch this Luke guy.

After about five minutes of pacing, I spotted Makarov sitting on the bar, and as bored as I was, I decided to go talk to him. He waved to me, "Hey Nicholai. You enjoyin' the party?" "Yeah. Despite not really having introduced myself to a couple of people, I like the new people I've met." Looked around to see yet another brawl breaking out, "It's just wonderful to be here after so long, to be back with my family, it's absolutely wonderful." He smiled, "Well that's great to hear. So, I assume you'll be taking part in the s-class advancement trials?" I sat on the barstool next to him, "If you'll allow me to, I would love to be one of the examiners." "Great! Just so you know, the roster for this year's trials is Juvia, Gray, Natsu, Cana, Wendy, Elfman, Gajeel, and Grace." I grinned, "You made quite the interesting picks, but then again, I haven't seen anyone's progress over the past years." Gildarts, who had just walked up and sat down, spoke up, "So, you're Nicholai right?" "Yeah? Gildarts?" "Yep. So, what's this I've been hearing about you and Natsu being brothers?" I sighed, "We aren't blood related. It's just a term of endearment." He seemed somewhat disappointed with my answer, "Oh, ok." The three of us sat there in silence, watching the rest of the party go on. I noticed Sam talking to and having a drinking contest with Cana, which she was losing horribly. Sayume was having fun with the other exceeds, eating with Happy, competing with Lily, and attempting to get Carla to stop calling him 'tomcat'. After a while, Makarov spoke, "Nicholai, are you really going to just sit here throughout the whole party?" I leaned back from my stool and slightly onto the counter, "I've never really been one to enjoy the whole 'party' idea." Makarov groaned, but before he could say anything else, Gildarts placed his hand on my shoulder, making me nearly yelp, "Oh come on Nicholai, even if you aren't a party-person, don't you want to at least hang out with the other members of the guild, not to mention your partner and sister?" He actually made quite the compelling case since I am not often one to like this kind of thing, "Alright, I'll go."

I slid off of the barstool and walked over to the table where my sister looked like she was about to pass out from alcohol poisoning. Looking at her and Cana in the same vicinity; I realized just how much they looked alike. Cana waved to me, mug in hand, "I've got to say Nicholai, your sister is quite the party animal! She's had at least four mugs of this stuff!" She said pointing to the extra-strong alcohol that she preferred. Since I knew my sister probably wasn't Cana-level at not getting drunk, I nudged her shoulder, hoping she wasn't too intoxicated. She slowly looked up with her eyelids barely open, "Heeeeeyyyy *hiccup* Nicholai." Sam poured herself another mug full of mead as she looked at me, somberly, "You know, the day Mom and Dad died, you were the only thing keeping me alive. I remember it all, every excruciating detail. I woke up to the sounds, smells, and heat of a burning house. I started to scream, which caused you to wake up, and as soon as you saw what was going on, you grabbed me by the wrist and dashed out of the door, straight to Mom and Dad's room. Just as we got there though, we were greeted with the sight of four men in our parent's room, laughing, setting the house alight, and throwing our parent's limp bodies over their shoulders. I was just about to scream again, but before I could, you immediately covered my mouth, and we both ran to the emergency exit that Mom and Dad had added just for this type of occasion. Just our luck, because when we got there, a huge fire blocked our only exit. I started to freak out while you were trying to think of a way out, and the wizards ended up noticing us." She seemed to chuckle as she thought about it, "I had completely lost it, while my eight year old brother was saving my ass. Hell, you had good reason to do so, aside from me not keeping a level head." She took another swig from her mug, "Mom and Dad always taught us magic, since they were big targets in the dark guild community and wanted us to be able to protect ourselves. I never really got it back then, and my magic was quite evident of that. You however, you were the big protégé. You were always impressing, always surpassing expectations. You knew only one of us was going to get out alive, and since you were the only one who could probably stall for long enough, you forced me to leave. Just before the dark wizards got there, you used your fire manipulation magic to part the fire, threw me through the exit, and turned back to face those murderers." "You know, that actually explains a lot." She finished off her mug, and smiled at me, "You know, I nearly passed out when I found you alive. After I had gotten out of the house on that night, I saw them walking out, carrying Mom, and Dad, and… you. I saw you three, just dangling there over their shoulders, and I couldn't bear to watch. After that, I just tried to forget about it, but no matter what, I couldn't stop remembering how life had been before. You know the rest of the story from there. I found you a couple years later, but was too scared to even help you. A few years later, I meet you once again, and you left to go save your guild. I heard that Tenrou Island had been destroyed, and I was really depressed for a long time, but eventually, I decided to fully move on. I just knew that if you, Mom, and Dad were watching me from above, you wouldn't want me doing nothing with my life. Although, I guess despite my decision to move foreword, I still clung to the hope that you were alive, and I would visit that place we agreed to meet every day. Then one day, as you know, you came back. I guess I'm just trying to say… I- I'm just glad you're alive." I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, "I'm glad that I've got such an amazing sister." While I was holding her, I felt her go limp, indicating that she passed out. "Geez, you really were drunk." I picked her up with my left arm under her shoulders and my right arm under her knees. It was weird, her skin felt especially warm even with my heat resistance, although if she really did have that high of a temperature, she'd most likely be dead if her magic wasn't based around it. Either way, since parties here tend to end with everyone just passing out, I kicked a few chairs into place and set her down to sleep. I then decided to walk over to a table where the exceeds were hanging out.

"Hey you guys! How's it going?" I said, waving. "It's all good." Happy and Sayume both muffled with mackerels stuffed in their mouths. Lily laughed, "Your behavior from being a seven year old despite you being such a strong warrior is pretty comical, I must admit." Carla sighed, "You two could at least finish chewing first." Erza then approached the table, holding a piece of strawberry cake, "Hey Nicholai." "Oh, Erza. I actually needed to ask you something." "Yeah? What is it?" I ushered her to another table before I talked to her "Well, I know the s-class exams are coming up, and Makarov said I could be an examiner. Just how much stronger has everyone gotten?" She smiled, setting down her cake, "I'll admit, you won't be that much of an examiner if you don't train like hell for this week. I wouldn't mind training you if that's all right." "Hell yeah! Thanks!" I threw my fist down against the table in my excitement, and I felt my knuckles get covered with frosting, crumbs, and strawberry filling, "Oh no…" Erza clenched her fists as a sinister look appeared on her face, "Even though we are in the guild hall…" She requipped her most powerful weapon, Demon Blade Crimson Sakura, "I won't hold anything back from those who dare to ruin my cake!" She chased me about the guildhall for quite a while before calming down. She took so long in fact, that several other quarrels broke out as a result of her swinging mindlessly, aiming for my neck, but missing every time. She could only finally calm down when Mirajane saved my life with a spare piece of strawberry cake that she found. Erza quickly gobbled the cake up and passed out, since each second with that sword of hers took a lot of magic energy out of her, so she must have been understandably tired. By this time, almost everyone else excluding me and Mira had either gone home or fallen asleep on the floor.

"Uh, thanks for saving me with that spare piece of cake." She smiled while letting out a light yawn, "No problem, but I'm getting pretty tired, how about you?" I shoved my hands into my pockets, "I think I'm going to wait for Natsu to get back… oh. By the way, what day is today?" "Um, it's already past midnight, so I think it's the tenth." "Okay, wonder what I should do for it…" _Why am I even worrying about it? It really isn't that important right now. _While I had been thinking, Mira walked over to where Elfman and Lissana were sleeping and had lain down right beside them. I still was planning on waiting for Natsu to get back, but seeing everyone in the guild hall sleeping, and the fact that it was now past midnight really made me want to fall into a deep sleep. For the next few hours, I just roamed about the guildhall, trying to find something to do until Natsu got back. I found some leftover meat, along with some oil and matches, which were the ingredients to mine and Natsu's favorite drink, liquid fire. After huffing down the meat, I tried to make myself some liquid fire, and I took about five attempts to finally get it to stay in the cup and not light the floors on fire. _At least I didn't try to make this with my fire. The guild would've been up in smoke if I couldn't have eaten those failures of mine. _I thought as I slowly sipped on my fifth and successful attempt at a drink. I took a look at the clock on the wall to see that it was already one-thirty, "Ugh, when are you going to get here Natsu?" I finished my drink and began to stare at the ceiling while lying across the length of three barstools, occasionally checking the time. I eventually dozed off, somewhere around three in the morning.

Before waking up, I found myself in a dream, which, as they usually were, was a lucid one. The area I was in was a flat, featureless, white plain. Even though I always had complete control over my dreams, I just felt like walking around in silence, since peaceful moments like that weren't easy to come by in the guild. In times when there was pure silence, I would often find myself thinking, shifting from one idea to another, and almost never finishing a single thought. After what seemed like about a few minutes, a sound came from somewhere, "Nicholai…" I heard a voice trailing off. It sounded feminine, with a touch of motherly caring and love. Another one came a few short moments afterwards, saying my name once again, "Nicholai…" This one had a much deeper, sterner tone, as if belonging to a middle-aged man. Both voices kept repeating my name, over and over, until eventually, the both of them uttered another phrase, "We're proud of you, both you and your sister. Be sure to take care of her." Two silhouettes appeared in front of me, a man and a woman. I could see no details, but I knew who they were. As soon as I fully processed what was happening, I ran after them, but for every step I took, they moved even farther away. "Son… you can't obsess over us. You need to let go." Tears welled up in my eyes as I tripped, falling down to my knees. "But… I-I need you two here with me! I've lived for so long with absolutely no one, and even though I found a new family in Natsu, Sayume, Sam, and the rest of Fairy tail… all I've ever truly wanted is to be with you!" I didn't care if they were real or just figments of my imagination, I was pouring out my heart to them. After a few seconds of me lying on my knees crying, a felt a warm hand brush up against my cheek. I looked up to see my mother, Katria Kasai, not just as a silhouette, but everything was filled in. She looked just like Sam, save for her looking like she was in her forties and her hair being in a ponytail rather than nothing at all, "Nicholai, look at all you've done since we passed on. You grew up to be a good man, even without our help, or even knowledge that we existed." She smiled with pride as I felt a hand come down onto my shoulder. This time, it was my father, Alexander Kasai. He seemed to be the same age as Mom, and he had a neatly trimmed brown beard along with brown hair that seemed to have a slight red tint, "Nicholai, you've gotten so strong. You've joined a guild, made friends, and followed in your parent's footsteps of tracking down dark wizards, even if in your case it was for avenging us. I can't express how proud I am, both as your father, and the one who first taught you magic. I can say with confidence, you've done just fine without us, and the same goes for your sister." I had stopped crying, and I pulled both of them into an embrace, "Thanks you two. Now I can finally feel closure, and hopefully I can help Sam with that too. I know you said to let go, and even though this is the first time we've met, I'm really going to miss you two." They both chuckled a bit before responding, "We'll miss you too, but be sure to not visit us for at least fifty or so years." I laughed a bit too.

"Okay, I promise."

* * *

**Nicholai: Okay… I'm satisfied!**

**Sam: *Is passed out from alcohol poisoning***

**Me: I'll take that as a "satisfied"! … and Sayume?**

**Sayume: *snores***

**Me: …and yet another satisfied customer! Well, since I am no longer at risk of being beaten up, I think I should end the dialog here, but before I do, I may not update for a while again just because of school (just putting that out there!). Anyways, thanks for reading chapter 16 of Rising Fire, don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review down below. Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	17. The S-class trials

**Hello once again readers. I know it took a while, but I've got one heck of s surprise for you people who were patient with me and school, but before I reveal it, let's get to the fun fact of the week. Fun Fact Of The Week: I'm probably not going to be uploading for a while again since I need to focus on my finals for a while.**

**Nicholai: The surprise is...**

**Me: *Punches him* NOPE! I'M SAYIN IT!**

**Sayume and Sam: This chapter is almost 11K words long!**

**Me: Dammit you two!**

**Sayume and Sam: MwahhahahahahhahaahahahahAHHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAAHAHaahaha…haha..*Cough*.. umm hi readers!**

**Nicholai: Why didn't you punch them!?**

**Me: You deserved it more, and you confused me with that dream last chapter**

**Nicholai: Oh well, let's just get to the chapter.**

**Me: Alright then, BTW I would like to warn the readers that one of the scenes near the end of the chapter is a bit more graphic, and another one contains the F-word. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED PEEPS!**

* * *

I woke up only to the feeling of my face and the floor introducing themselves. "Gah! Damnit!" After rubbing my forehead and waiting for the fuzziness to clear for a while, I looked back up to the clock to see that it was about eight in the morning, but no one but me was awake yet. _I guess everyone drank a bit too much last night._ I took a few moments to fully wake up, and then I quickly checked about the guildhall to see if Natsu was here yet. Nope. Not a trace. I tiptoed towards the door of the guild in hopes that Natsu was at his house instead. _It's _strange_… I don't see Erza anywhere. _Just then I felt someone grab my cloak, "You thought you could skip out on your training Nicholai?" I slowly swiveled my head around to see Erza with a look on her face that could kill. She wasn't done talking, "Believe me when I say you will not eat, drink, or sleep until I allow it, and you will be ready for the s-class trials in the four days that you have." I spoke in an extremely sarcastic tone, "That's nice, but listen, it's my birthday today and I really just want to find Natsu." She paused for a moment, "Okay, you can go look for Natsu, but only on two conditions." "Alright, what?" "First, you need to escape my grip, and second, once you're done, you have to promise me that you'll meet me in the woods just outside of town for our training." "Awesome, thank-" I made my eyes falsely look surprised, "A GIANT PIECE OF STRAWBERRY CAKE!" I honestly hoped she would fall for that to some degree, and sadly, she didn't even look for a second. She gave me a blank stare before smiling and then laughing so hard that she couldn't keep her eyes open, which gave me barely enough time to quickly grab my scythe's handle and swing it at just the right angle to clip off the small area of my cloak that Erza was holding. I darted out the door, and turned around about twenty feet away to see her mouth gaping open, still holding that piece of my cloak. I turned back around and continued to laugh all the way to Natsu's house.

After about fifteen minutes of alternating between running, walking, and occasionally flying with my flames out of sheer boredom, Natsu's house came into sight. I walked straight into the door, immediately tripping over Natsu, who happened to be sleeping right in front of the door on the floor. My nose took the second hit for the morning in a pile of random things Natsu had on his floor, and as I got back up, I felt a little bit of blood seep down from my nostril, "God… DAMMIT!" I quickly grabbed a tissue to block the blood as Natsu got up, slowly rubbing the part of his back that I accidentally kicked, "Ow… that accident didn't just hurt you idiot…" He said it with a smile on his face, so I knew he was joking. His hair seemed pretty messy, and his eyelids were droopy. "Um… how late did you get home last night Natsu?" He shook his head, somewhat tidying up his hair while making him look more awake in general. "Well, I actually stayed out a bit too late last night, and by the time I got back to Magnolia, I just went straight here so I wouldn't wake up in the middle of the street. Wait… is it the tenth today?" "Yeah! Do you remember what I told you December tenth was?" He slapped his hand onto my shoulder, "You really think I would forget my brother's birthday?" He continued to talk as he walked off into a different room, where I heard him clearly shuffling around to try and get something, "And since you've missed two of your birthdays here, I've got two different presents for you." He came back out with a large, rectangular box slung over his shoulder, "Here's the first one, which is solely from me. The next one is outside, and a little bit farther away from here, but it is from everyone at the guild who was there when you first joined. The others didn't help because I wanted you to be a surprise to them. Anyways, here's your first gift." He set down the large box, and even though I had just turned sixteen, childish instincts got the best of me, and I tore through the wrapping and cardboard boxing to end up gripping a large, smoothed out piece of wood, which upon further inspection and unwrapping, turned out to be a rather simple looking, acoustic guitar. Natsu spoke up, "I remembered from the week that we trained for your s-class trials that you said you liked music, so I decided you might want a guitar." I was amazed, "Natsu, did you make this?" He answered as I threw away the tissue that was blocking my nose's bleeding, as it had stopped, "Yes and no. Everything except for the strings and the pegs I made myself, but I bought and put in those two parts." I plucked the strings, tuning the pegs accordingly. The strange thing was, I had never picked up an instrument as far as I could remember, but maybe, like fire magic, it was something I learned before everything with the dark wizards happened, and now it was just muscle-memory taking over. Natsu brought out a guitar case, "Before you get too excited about that, lemme show you the other present, and trust me, it'll be even better than this." I quickly packed up the instrument and slung the case strap across my chest as Natsu walked out into the slightly cold winter air.

We both kept walking without saying a word for a few minutes, that was, until we reached this 'birthday present' from the guild itself. I could not express my shock, or frankly any of my emotions through words as we walked up towards my next present. My mouth was hanging open as I looked at a fully-fledged house, almost twice the size of Natsu's house. "T-this is my second present? The one everyone in the guild contributed to?" "Yeah! Come on inside, it gets even better." Before I even began to walk in, I took a few more moments just to take every detail of the house in. The walls seemed to be about twenty feet long on the shorter sides, and fifty feet long on the two longer sides. The external parts of the house made it seem somewhat log-cabin like, with most of it being wood save for a few stone fillings here and there around the doors and windows. I walked in throughout the whole house. It seemed that everyone I knew from the guild had contributed somewhat. There was an old-fashioned rifle over the mantle that appeared to be from Alzack and Bisca. A painting of Happy, Natsu, and me with our arms over each other's shoulders while Happy was flying to the right of Natsu was above a polished-wood rocking chair. I noticed this theme continuing throughout the whole house, and overall, the house was amazing. There were three bedrooms, a fairly large kitchen, a cozy den and living room, and a beautiful dining room. I thought that was all, but after Natsu showed me all of that, he led me to a certain spot in the living room. There was a small hole in the floor, which he looped his fingers through and pulled on, which pulled up a 3x3 area of wood that led into a basement area. He dropped down into it, and I followed. Down there was a huge hot spring bath area with stone floors; a couple of sinks, a stall off in the corner that I assumed had a toilet in it, and a single shower. "Woah… this is cool." I wiped some sweat off of my brow as I took off my shoes and socks so I could dip my feet into the pool of hot water. I heard Natsu kick off his sandals and sit himself down next to me. "You know, this is probably the first time we've actually relaxed and hung out together. Any other time, it's been training." Just then, there was a loud knocking on the door, and like any other somewhat bored teenagers would do, Natsu and I quickly ran out, seeing who could get to the door first. Natsu got up onto the main floor first, but due to his feet still being wet, he slipped. Since I noticed this, I used this to my advantage to slide across the floor, all the way to the front door. I quickly opened it to see Sayume holding a limp and groaning Sam. "Woah! What's wrong Sayume?" "Sam has just been groaning and saying she feels like… the S-word. I thought I should bring it to you since I remember this happening to you sometimes after those really long nights where you drank a lot." I couldn't keep the embarrassment from showing on my face as Natsu gave me a slightly judgmental stare. "Well… um… let's just get her up to bed. I'm actually going to have to go soon anyways, so just make sure she stays hydrated and in bed." I helped Sayume carry Sam up to the bedroom, told him exactly what he needed to do, and left quickly so I could catch up to Erza and escape the social awkwardness of Natsu knowing I got drunk at fourteen years old, and more than once at that.

I had gotten out into the woods in only a few minutes, and then I realized that I had no idea where exactly Erza wanted me to meet her. I slowed my pace, walking with my hands shoved into my pockets, my hood flung over my head, and my guitar case still strapped to my chest. I just then realized that this was Erza I was thinking about. She wouldn't just let me find her and train with her. She's testing me even right now. I slowed my pace even further, taking in every sensory input I could. I quickly threw down my guitar case and kept walking, adjusting to a more brisk pace. _Where are you Erza? _I heard a branch crack, and the beginning of the sound of a sword slashing from my ten o' clock. I could barely grab the handle of my scythe and turn it so her blade ran into it and not my shoulder. "Well, you aren't completely bad at this. You managed to figure out that I'd do this." She looked at my scythe, which she still had her sword slammed against, "You probably could've properly parried my strike if you had gotten that faster. As part of your training, I'm gonna make sure you can at least requip that scythe." I grinned, excited, "Well, then I'd guess we'd better get to it!" She jumped back, using her sword as leverage, "Indeed."

*Four days later*

I definitely felt a lot stronger, and Erza knew it too, so she concluded my training a bit early. I had a few hours before I had to get back to the house and go to sleep so I could be ready for the hell of a trip tomorrow, so I decided to just sit down on a nearby hill overlooking Magnolia and play my guitar. It was a nice scene. The sun was still peeking over the horizon, there was a light breeze, and the only sounds were the notes from my guitar and the wind whistling through the grass and trees behind me. After a while, I started to hum along with the notes that I was playing, and eventually, the humming transitioned into words.

**_Sometimes it happens_**

**_we lose our way_**

**_Greed, anger, and loneliness_**

**_they lead us astray_**

**_Being lost like that_**

**_it's the worst feeling of all_**

**_You have stumbled_**

**_and all you can do is fall_**

**_But family_**

**_to them its never too late_**

**_Even if you're at the gates of hell_**

**_they'll save you from that fate_**

**_Lost and alone_**

**_What's one to do_**

**_I've got no family _**

**_Will I just keep falling too_**

**_All I saw in me_**

**_was a husk of what I could be_**

**_But then Fairy Tail came along_**

**_and they caught me_**

**_I had a new family_**

**_I became strong_**

**_My path was right_**

**_but once again it then became wrong_**

**_No matter how righteous _**

**_A goal may seem_**

**_If the pursuer is corrupt_**

**_then it's just an evil scheme_**

**_It was happening again_**

**_I was falling for the second time_**

**_I even stared death in the face_**

**_yet my family still helped me climb_**

**_I can say_**

**_to this day_**

**_That even though I have always gotten lost_**

**_because of family I've found my way_**

I put away my instrument through requip, leaned back, and closed my eyes. After a few more minutes of listening to the wind, I heard some rustling behind me, and I turned to see Sam. "Hey Sis. How long have you been standing there?" She didn't answer, and as I looked closer, I saw that she was crying, but also smiling, "You sing… just like Dad..." She looked at my face and chuckled, "You're even getting a bit of a beard like his…" I felt my chin, which had a small amount of hair on it, although not enough for me to think of it as anything but that. I walked up to her, "You've got a voice just like Mom's too… comforting… gentle… and kind." I coughed, which kind of ruined the touching moment, but made it easier for me to move the conversation along, "So… was there a reason that you came up here before you heard me singing?" Sam grinned, "Well, I came here to tell you to come home and eat dinner, and seeing as you've been training for the last four days, we still need to celebrate your birthday!" "Oh yeah… we didn't really celebrate it I guess…" She grabbed my hand and started running back to the house, "Well come on then!" After a few minutes of awkwardly running behind Sam, we got to our house. I walked in, and noticed an absence of lights being on. Since I remembered the basic layout of the house, I walked to the right, which led to the kitchen. Just as I was about to flick on the lights, they did so themselves as Natsu, Happy, Sayume, and Sam, who had somehow hidden with them, jumped out at me. Before I knew what I myself was doing, I let out a high-pitched scream and punched the person closest to me, which happened to be Natsu. He grunted as he raised his right arm to guard any possible follow-up hits, "What was that for?" My heart was still beating out of my chest as I responded, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Happy and Sayume tried to get between us, "Come on, there's no need for fighting." _Let me make a mental note to tell them to NEVER do that again… _Sam shoved herself between Sayume and me, "Anyways, we made an awesome dinner for you, and I managed to bake what I remembered to be your favorite thing when we were little, triple layered caramel cake. And after dinner, we've got some late presents for you." We all sat down and ate what was more or less a feast, and considering how much Natsu, Sayume, and I eat, that was exactly what we needed. After dinner, we all took plates of cake and moved into the living room to do presents. "Well," Sam muffled through some cake, "I think I'll go first." She took out a box that was shaped like a painting, "I saw that painting of you and Natsu, and with his permission, I had that man Reedus edit it a bit, just to include everyone." She handed it to me, and I slowly unwrapped it. The picture seemed mostly the same, with me on the left and Natsu on the right, and both of us had our arms over the other's shoulders. Happy was still flying slightly to the right of Natsu, and Sayume had been added to be sitting on my shoulder. Sam was the last addition, and she was standing behind me, tall and smiling, with her hand placed in my hair, messing it up playfully. I looked at the picture, and I couldn't help but let a tear or two escape my eyes, "Thank you. It's wonderful." I set the picture aside as Sayume walked up to me with his hands behind his back, "You know, this is the first time I've ever done something like this, so sorry if it's not okay." He pulled out a small envelope, which I slowly grabbed and opened. Inside, there was a little booklet, and it was titled **My Best Friend: Nicholai**. I opened it, and it seemed to be a rather well drawn picture book. Each page depicted something we did together, along with including a statement from Sayume saying something about me from each one. They were all wonderful, but a few in particular stood out to me. The first one that stood out to me was actually the very first page I read. It was a picture of me and him fighting the bandits that had been harassing him before I met him. On this page, Sayume's statement was, "My best friend Nicholai, and the start of my first and best friendship." Next, he had drawn two pictures side by side. They were me turning away from an unconscious Erigor, and me and Sam breaking down in tears and hugging, "My best friend Nicholai, who has shown me that no matter how angry, frustrated, or emotionally damaged someone is, they can always show kindness and mercy." I turned the pages slowly, enjoying the touching words of my best friend. The next especially touching picture I saw was him grinning lightly, me standing next to him, and those final two members of the Oracion Seis standing behind us. I looked to the statement on this drawing, and got a catch in my throat. It read, "My best friend Nicholai, who makes me smile in even the bleakest situations." After that, there was the drawing of him and I facing Acnologia unwaveringly. This time, it read, "My best friend Nicholai, the person who helped me face anything, even death." At this point, I began to choke up, but continued to read. Lastly, there was a picture of him, Sam, Natsu, Happy, and I standing in the doorway of the guildhall. As a wonderful closing note, Sayume said as I read out loud, "My best friend Nicholai, who was my family, is my family, will always be my family, and gave me the opportunity to be a part of his family." Dropping the book, I picked up Sayume and held him in a tight embrace, crying a bit. "I love it Sayume. Thanks." I set him down, and we all went back to sit on the couch to eat our cake. I turned to Natsu, awkwardly looking at him for a few moments before I could speak since I had to swallow a big bite of cake. "Natsu, since you already gave me two presents, I'm going to do you a favor for tomorrow." He shook his head, "Nah, you deserved those two presents anyways, and I won't need any help passing these S-class exams." I smiled, "Well in that case, consider this a challenge rather than a favor. This is all you've got to think about tomorrow, Route E. Don't forget it." He smirked, "Fine."

I looked at the clock and saw that it was already past nine PM, "Woah! I need to be going to bed soon if I want to get up tomorrow." I finished off my cake and gave everyone a big hug before I rushed up to the bedroom I already claimed as my own. Once I got into bed, I noticed just how tired I was after the training with Erza, and I was out like a light.

After what honestly felt like a few minutes of dreamless sleep, I felt someone quickly pull the blankets out from on top of me while opening the blinds, "Come on Nicholai, we're goanna be late getting to Hargeon if you don't get up soon." Despite knowing how important the exams were, I pulled my covers back over my head and uttered the timeless phrase, "Just five more minutes." I immediately regretted this decision as I felt someone grab me by the ear and start to drag me out of bed, "I waited for eight years so you've got no right to tell me you're not getting up when I say you are!" My ear was pretty close to being ripped off, and my back hitting the wooden floors and stairs wasn't helping how I felt. After about thirty seconds of me saying 'ow', Sam let go of my ear and pulled out a chair for me at the table. "Now sit down and eat so we don't miss the early train." I rubbed the sleep that was still in my eyes after that out of them. Once my vision was completely clear, I saw Sayume pouring some syrup on a pancake, making sure not to get any on his gashouse-style eggs. Sam had spread strawberry preserves on her pancake, and was currently cutting up her gashouse eggs, covering the bread in creamy egg yolk. I had always been partial to cinnamon sugar and butter on my pancakes, so I grabbed both of them and began to spread them on my breakfast. I did the same thing with my eggs that Sam had done with hers, and after a few minutes of fast paced eating, all of our plates were clear. I stood up, "Well, are you two ready?" Sam grinned, "Well, I've got some stuff to fetch, because unlike you, I don't sleep in all of my equipment and normal clothes. I'd also recommend you bring some sort of water bottle and snack." I requipped a backpack full of those things, "Already taken care of, and with enough for all of us." She walked upstairs and yelled back down to me, "Awesome! Just give me a minute!" About five minutes of awkward conversation between me and Sayume involving how he and Sam were going to hide on the boat, Sam ran down the stairs with our tickets. She straightened her hair, "Ok, let's go!"

The majority of the trip to Hargeon was uneventful. Well, it was uneventful for me anyways, and that's only because I was unconscious to prevent my motion sickness. I was shaken awake and I slowly walked out of the train as Sayume hid himself under my cloak. I turned to Sam, "Well, that's Sayume taken care of, but what about you?" "Let me show you." She grabbed my hand and pulled me into an alleyway. "Well," I stood there awkwardly, "This is pretty familiar, but at least you aren't hiding who you are now." Sam jokingly pushed me, "Oh shut up. Anyways, you know that girl Juvia? Well, my magic is pretty similar to hers, but… just let me show you." I actually didn't know what Juvia's magic was, but I didn't care, because just in that instant, her body shifted. The surrounding air heated up, her clothes appeared to evaporate, and her whole body completely snapped from being flesh to being flames. I slowly took a few steps back, trying to regain my composure, "That's uhh… interesting, to say the least. I guess you could just tail the boat without anyone seeing you." She quickly changed back to normal, "Yeah, let's just go."

Sayume did a pretty good job of hiding and keeping quiet once we got to the dock, and Sam was hovering about a hundred feet above us. I ran onto the boat and quickly found a place where I could lie down comfortably while Sayume could relax under my cloak. I managed to fall asleep before the ship started to move, so I wasn't victim to my own horrible seasickness until I heard the ship hit land, "Oh god!" I quickly stood up and puked over the edge of the boat. Makarov raised his voice, "Okay everyone! You know your routes, so head to them and I'll go back to get the candidates." Everyone hopped off of the boat, running off to their respective paths. Before I could reach route E, Gildarts stopped me, "Hey, just so you know, pretty much everyone saw Sayume under your cloak, and I'm pretty sure that bunch of human-looking flames following the boat was your sister. I needed to vent my frustration, "Hey Sayume, cover your ears for a second." After coming out from under my cloak, he did that, "Alright" I took a deep breath in, "DAMN IIIIIIT!" I took a few more deep breaths and pulled Sayume's hands away from his ears. "Thanks for being cool about it Gildarts." He threw me a devilish grin, "Maybe I could tell master next time. Anyways, cya!" I ran into the passage as Sayume flew behind me. We got to the open area where the fight would be, and Sam had already arrived. "What took you two so long?" I jumped into the crater in the center of the room, "Someone called Gildarts who happened to see you two had a conversation with me." Sayume and Sam awkwardly laughed a bit, "Yeah, we're sorry 'bout that." I sighed, "Oh well." I spotted a few fairly thick vines suspended from the ceiling of the cave, and I decided to jump up to them and lie down. As soon as I did, I felt someone get squished under my back. I quickly got up and saw that I had nearly crushed Mavis, "I'm so so so sorry Master Mavis." "Ow… that hurt Nicholai." Sam and Sayume flew up to where we were, and Sam looked at Mavis, pretty confused, "Who's this?" I gestured towards Mavis, "Well this is-" I was interrupted by a sphere of golden light surrounding me, and freezing me in place. Mavis smiled in a way so mischievous-looking for someone like her, "I can introduce myself, you'll stay in there for time-out until I see fit." She moved over to Sam, "Well, I'm Mavis Vermillion, Fairy Tail's first master." She got closer to Sam, whispering into her ear something I barely even heard, "How old is he?" Sam whispered back, "He just turned 16 a few days ago. Let me guess, you're going to keep him in there for as many minutes as he is years old." Mavis closed with a giggle and, "Yep." Sayume then pulled a deck of cards out of his bag, and I believe he suggested that they play go fish. I ended up sitting there in suspension, watching their game for about ten minutes before I began to mentally scream with frustration. I tried to move, but I stayed frozen in place, which fueled my occasionally short temper. _This time… this time, I'll get it. _ With every ounce of my willpower and strength, I urged every part of my body to move, and I felt the sphere's resistance on my movement vanish. The sphere itself expanded a few feet outwards on all sides, I was free to move, and I wasn't going to stay in here for another minute. I gathered my energy into my chest, heated it up, and prepared to launch it out, "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" The giant fireball was condensed due to the size of the sphere, but as soon as it hit the walls, the sphere shattered. Sadly, the fireball also went heading straight back towards my face after hitting the edge of the sphere, and it nailed me right in the chest, sending me flying. All I could hear aside from some light buzzing in my ears was the laughter of Mavis, Sayume, and Sam. Once I had somewhat recovered, Mavis waved to me, "That seems like enough punishment, now get over here and play before the candidates get here!" Although I did wait a bit longer so I could see straight, I slowly walked over once I was ready. Sayume was already passing out cards for a new round as I came and plopped myself in between Mavis and Sayume.

We ended up playing about five or six games before Sayume warned me that 'someone' was coming down the path to the cave. I motioned for everyone to try to hide before whoever it was got here. Sam and Sayume jumped into the shadows near the exit tunnel, I jumped back up into those vines suspended from the ceiling, but Mavis just stood there, looking slightly frustrated. She whisper-yelled to all of us, "I'm horrible at hiding!" I responded at about the same volume, "Just stay there! I've got an idea!" I quieted down once I heard some talking coming from the entrance. "I'm definitely going to become s-class this time! No matter what!" "Yeah…sure." I wasn't expecting anyone other than Natsu and Happy, and I wasn't disappointed when I saw them trot into the room. I was even less disappointed when I saw Natsu's face after he had laid his eyes on the only person he could see in the room, Mavis. And what he said afterwards, it was just priceless. He was wide-eyed and open mouthed as he yelled, "NICHOLAI YOU LYING BASTARD! WHEN YOU TOLD ME THAT ROUTE E WAS A CHALLENGE, I THOUGHT YOU MEANT ERZA BECAUSE OF THAT WHOLE THING YOU SAID ABOUT ME BEING BELOW YOU UNTIL I BEAT ERZA MYSELF! IF THAT WASN'T THE CASE, AT LEAST I SHOULD'VE FOUGHT YOU, NOT MAVIS!" I couldn't help myself from bursting out laughing, rolling out of the vines, and falling down to the floor. I struggled to get back up because of how much I was laughing, but I eventually did it, only to get slammed right in the face and knocked back down by Natsu. I jumped back onto my feet again, beginning to talk before he could interrupt me, "All jokes aside, we should start the test. Before we do," I turned to Mavis, "You should probably go watch from over where Sam and Sayume are." As I said that, they both walked out of their cover and waved to Natsu and Happy. "Now, I think it's about high time we start to fight." Natsu cracked his knuckes, "Yeah, I'm all fired up!" We both took our stances and before we started, I said one last thing under my breath, "This clash of the brother dragon slayers will be something to remember Natsu, so let's see who's stronger."

I slid my left foot across the ground, getting ready for a quick dash right towards Natsu. Lucky me, he was doing the same thing, and we both lit our hands on fire at the same time, and just like that, our fight started. "FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" In an instant, we both dashed towards the other and our attacks collided in the form of the world's most destructive fist bump. Natsu recovered from it quicker, and he prepared another attack, "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" Luckily, I reminded myself that I could just eat it, so I kept my cool, swallowing the fireball as soon as it reached me. Natsu laughed at himself a bit, "Oh yeah, I kinda forgot that you can eat my fire. Let me fix that! LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON MODE!" His flames were suddenly surrounded with a cloak of lightning, and before I could do anything else, he quickly gathered a large sum of fire and lightning in each of his hands and yelled, "LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!" I quickly gathered my energy and filled a large area around me with super-condensed portions of my flames. _Let's hope this new technique holds up! _The attack collided with my dome of flames, and I felt absolutely no impact from the attack. I awkwardly smiled while surrounded by an inferno "Yeah...it works." I knew that Natsu was going to try to make his next move soon since the debris from the explosion of that last attack were beginning to clear, so I prepared another one of my new techniques. I took the flames that were surrounding me, and manipulated them into two jagged swords. I slowly walked out of the dome of flames as it dissipated, holding both swords as I got into dueling stance, "You know, when you train with Erza, you really pick up an interest for blades, and just to make sure you don't even think of eating these, POSIONOUS FLAME DRAGON MODE!" Just as it had done many times before, Cobra's poison seeped out into my fire, leaving Natsu wide-eyed. However, he quickly began to smile once again as he began to talk, "Hehe…so you weren't bluffing when you told me that. OH YEAH! I'M ALL FIRED UP!" He quickly lit up his fists as he charged towards me, barely leaving me time to parry _Damn, this lightning helps him move faster_ He quickly spun upwards and used this momentum to kick me right in the jaw, which sent me flying right into the cave wall. Judging from how all of my muscles were contracting, he seriously ramped up the electricity on that attack. I slowly got up and saw that he was on the ground panting, because he received several cuts from my swords as he tried to move around me so fast. I dropped my swords, which I was surprisingly still holding onto, "Well, while I enjoy using these, I've got to admit," I requipped my scythe, "I'm much better with this." Natsu was once again surprised, "Y-you learned requip magic? When? How?" I walked forward as I explained, "well, as you know, I'm a pretty fast learner, and since Erza agreed to train me in the week leading up to this, she thought I should at least learn how to requip my scythe." I kept walking as Natsu stood there, with a blank expression on his face. Once I got to him, I leaned in to whisper something into his ear, "You know, I bet we're going to destroy this cave if we stay in here, so how 'bout we take this outside?" Just as he seemed like he was going to respond, I swept his legs out from under him with my scythe handle and kicked him through the ceiling. Lucky for me, Happy was paying attention and he quickly flew up and caught Natsu before he fell back down. "Ok…I might as well use this one too." I got rid of my scythe for the time being and produced many flames and let them gather around me, and once there was enough, then the magic happened. I focused some onto my back in the form of dragon wings, a bit of them onto my hands and feet to act as talons, and the rest of them went into making rough scales and horns all over my body. "Well, let's hope this can hold up."

I attempted to manipulate the wings so I could fly, and surprisingly, it took a lot less energy than just blasting myself up. I quickly left the ground and made it through the newly formed hole in the ceiling. Natsu barely dodged me as I barreled through. I stretched out a bit, "Ah…much better. Now we can fight without having to worry about the cave's integrity" After thinking a bit, I laughed, "Ya know, it's pretty funny, this is the first time outside of training where I haven't been fighting someone who I was angry at. Even I can tell how differently I'm acting" he grinned, loosening up a bit "Yeah, no kiddin, I wouldn't think you were the same person who fought Erza if I were just going off of what you were saying. If anything, you're more laid back. Also, WOAH! What the hell kind of technique is that?" I smirked, even though I don't think he could have seen it under my scales of fire, "Well, I had a conversation with Erza about a little incident at a place called the Tower of Heaven. She told me about this power you unlocked called 'dragon force'. She told me that you became much more powerful in that form, taking on the qualities of a dragon. This is a new secret art of mine, and since it isn't actually that form, I just call it false dragon force." He then gave me a look that seemed to tell me to come over there and show just how strong it is. Before I did though, he began to chuckle and point behind me, "Look who's watchin'." I did a 180 and groaned in frustration when I saw Sayume, Mavis, and Sam all flying and watching, rooting for me. "Wahoo! Go Nicholai! You can do it," they shouted. Natsu heard this and got pretty annoyed, "Hey! Where's my support?!" Happy sighed, "Don't worry Natsu, you've got the same chance of winning as I do against Pantherlily." Natsu seemed confused at that statement, "Well, then why haven't you beat him yet?!" "That wasn't what I was trying to say Natsu…" I saw my opportunity and charged, "I see that you're underestimating me! Let me fix that!" I extended my talons and took a swing, "POISONOUS FLAME DRAGON SLASH!" Happy was quick and got Natsu away fast enough so I only grazed him across the chest, slightly ripping his vest. "Oh great, now I'm going to have to go through the rest of the trials like this." I flew up about fifty feet, preparing to dive-bomb. "I thought I told you," I pointed myself down and completely got rid of my wings, "not to underestimate me!" Natsu stood still, but this time, he didn't look scared. He seemed poised and ready for anything I was going to throw at him. I saw him mouth something in the last instant of my descent, and he completely vanished. I formed my wings again and stopped on a dime and began to turn until I heard something from far behind me, "MAX SPEED!" With that shout came another presumably from Natsu along with a solid force slamming into my back, "LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON FIRING HAMMER!" The attack connected at my upper back under my shoulder blade, making me flip as I was sent flying. Just before I hit the ground, I produced my wings again and quickly flapped them to ensure that I didn't KO from that attack. "So… you saw that chink in my 'armor', I can't have anything there or else my wings wouldn't be able to work" I rubbed that spot where he hit me, "Damn, that hurt…" I probably should've been paying attention since I looked up and saw Natsu charging down towards me as fast as Happy could've flown. I began to requip my scythe, hoping that it would materialize in time. The handle formed first, and I turned it so that the blade would block his punch when it actually formed. Natsu was only about a few feet away, and just as the blade of my scythe was forming, I saw Natsu's fist peak through the golden light. I cringed, closing my eyes, but when no hit came, I looked up and saw that Natsu's arm was actually caught in the blade. He kept struggling to get it out, and I just floated there, watching him struggle. It was kind of funny, but once he started to swear, I got rid of it just so Sayume wouldn't end up hearing all of those words. "Ok, shut up now Natsu." I smacked him across the head, which actually knocked him and Happy down a few feet. I probably shouldn't have done that; because that positioning gave Natsu the perfect opportunity to take a cheap shot at my 'man area', and boy did he take a shot. I couldn't even scream since he immediately followed up, "LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON IRON FIST!" He connected right at my lower jaw, nearly making me bite my tongue off. I couldn't help but just fall to the ground, limp and in pain. I laid there for about ten seconds before I felt like getting up, "I-I'm only giving you a pass on that just because I gave you a hard time earlier. Just make sure you never do that again, or I'll cut off your head with that scythe. I am still going to beat the tar out of you though." I re-established my false dragon force and flew up to Natsu. I wasn't going to waste any time to finish this fight. "POISONOUS FLAME DRAGON CLAW BARRAGE" Unlike the first few times I used this technique, I constantly slashed at anything in front of me, which was mainly Natsu, although I did clip Happy on the edges of his wings every few swings. I was trying not to cut too deep as to not mortally wound Natsu, but deep enough so it did damage. I finished the attack and flew back far enough so I could take a second to breathe. Natsu looked pretty worn out after that, and I wasn't feeling too good either. _I need to end this now, or else I'm going to end up being defeated_. I flew up along with Natsu, who was looking like he was going to try and finish this too. I gave him a serious look, "I've still got one technique I want to try out. Let's see if you can hold up against it." He smiled and chuckled, "We'll see." We both put some distance between us, gathering our strength. I heard Natsu off in the distance, "Happy, go as fast as you can and then let go of me." Happy responded with a quick, "Aye sir," and then began to get himself ready. For a brief moment, all was silent. I found it intriguing, how in all of the chaos that had been going on, for one moment, all suddenly became quiet. The silence came to an abrupt end when the shockwaves went out from us accelerating towards each other. As we approached, Happy threw Natsu ahead as I took one last swing of my wings to boost me before getting rid of them and beginning to spin. Me and Natsu both shouted out as we surrounded ourselves in flames, "DRAGONSLAYER SECRET ART." I had one small source of fire in front of my head, and as I spun, it shot back behind me, forming a cyclone. "FLAME LOTUS." Natsu shot out his lightning to propel him while using his fire to form a cone around him, with the part that was pointing to me being the sharp-looking end. "POISONOUS FIRE STORM/PHEONIX LIGHTNING SWORD!" We both collided; hitting one-another's head, and we were still pushing our attacks, trying to overcome each other. We maintained this equilibrium for a few moments, but both of us were completely out of energy, and our attacks died out. Freefalling was something I was quite familiar with, but it honestly feels so different when you can't even move. You feel absolutely nothing except the wind, and that feeling was all I could think about in that moment. I then realized that I'd be hitting the ground any second. I momentarily freaked out, but was stopped before I hit the roof of the cave by Sam and Sayume. Even though it hurt a lot, I looked up and saw that Mavis and Happy had caught Natsu, and they were carrying him back down to the cave just as Sam and Sayume were doing to me. Once we got down, I dropped and fell onto my back, leaving my eyes open. I saw Sam start to walk over to the other end of the cave, and when she came back, she dropped someone right next to me, "Hehe… so, who won lil' bro?" I let out a long sigh, "Well, you and Happy are partners right?" He gave me an affirmative grunt, "Ok, since one of you guys is still standing, you guys win. If you're talking about just our fight… I'll tell you after the trials." Natsu let out a weak 'yay' as Happy flew over to join the reast of us, "It's great that we gat to go on and all, but what are we supposed to do for the next round? I can't really do much, and Natsu's outta commission." I took a moment to think before and idea popped into my head, "Sam, I'm goanna need you to give him some fire. Just enough so he can at least walk." She nodded and walked back a short distance just to make sure no one got burnt. She made a sphere of fire between her hands that was about the size of a beach ball and then she condensed it into the size of a pea. She walked over, dividing her focus between the ball of fire she was carrying and her balance as she walked. Sam got back to Natsu and kneeled next to him, "Here, this should make you feel better." She dropped it into his mouth, and just like that Natsu was up and ready to go, "HOLY CRAP THAT WORKED FAST! Thanks Sam, I'm feeling ready to ace these trials now!" Before he dashed off into the base camp on the other end of the path, I spoke up, "Natsu, look at me," He did, "I know you can win these trials, and I'm counting on you to not disappoint me. Promise me that when we leave this island, that you'll be the newest s-class wizard." Natsu threw me a smile and a small ball of fire, "Promise me that you'll be there to watch." I threw the flames into my mouth and swallowed before answering, "It's a deal, Natsu." He ran off with Happy following behind him. Sayume walked up and stomped his foot down into my gut, "You are a pretty good liar, but you can't fool me. Get up Nicholai, I could tell that you were holding back in that fight." I laughed as I got up, "Well, just because I was holding back in power does not mean I took a dive, but it also doesn't mean that I didn't do that." Mavis giggled, "I guess we won't know. Anyways, I'm going to go ahead to the camp. I'll see you all there!" She left, leaving Sayume, Sam, and I in awkward silence. I requipped my backpack and got rid of my cloak, leaving me in jeans, old shoes, and a white tank top. "Should we go ahead and go?" Sayume and Sam both responded with 'yes', and we began to trot down the path.

***SAYUME POV***

I knew we would probably get in trouble with Mr. Guildmaster Makarov once we got to the camp, but I didn't really care as long as I was having fun with Nicholai. He seemed to be doing rather well after his fight. Not too many visible injuries, although I did see Natsu kick him in his privates. Sam even gave him the same thing She had given Natsu to make him feel better, and after that, Nicholai even offered me a ride on his head. I accepted and climbed up onto the top of his head that was full of shaggy hair. It was nice, and I was having a great time until I felt something weird. I could sense an energy from where we had just come from in the cave, and it wasn't anyone from the guild either. I needed to go check out what it was, but I didn't really want to make anyone worry. I tugged on Nicholai's shirt a bit, catching his attention, "Hey Nicholai. I think I left something back in the cave, can I go get it?" He picked me up off of his head and set me down behind him, "Alright Sayume, but don't take too long. You'll miss out on all of Mira's good cooking." I nodded and quickly flew back to the opening in the cave. _I know it probably isn't much, but I've got to check. I heard that the council had gotten to the island once, maybe they're here again to observe the trials_. I thought and though of anything that could be the scource of this energy, but all of my theories were proven wrong when I enetered the chamber. There was a single figure wearing a dark robe with a low-cut hood. I entered battle shift mode and grabbed my Bo staff just to be safe, "This is Fairy Tail's sacred ground. You must leave at once or I will make you leave by force." The figure stood there for a moment, as if taking in what I had just said. The person removed their hood as they spoke up, "Fairy Tail, yes? Good, I was hoping I was in the right place." This person was a man in his late 30-s to early 40-s at best, and his appearance put me even more on edge. He had completely white hair, with a shagginess that was comparable to Nicholai's, but maybe a bit longer towards the back. His pupils were blood red, and his teeth resembled fangs more than anything else. I got into a fighting stance, "Didn't you hear me? I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE!" The man disappeared as I felt a finger go up against my lips, "Shhhhhh…let's use our inside voices, shall we?" The man had appeared right in front of me, and as he brought his hand down from my face, I couldn't feel anything except my paralyzing fear of this person. He ignored me and walked along the path towards camp "Now, I wouldn't want to leave with all of these valuable targets here. Gray Fullbuster, he's worth 2,000,000 J. Erza Scarlet, Titania, I've heard that she's worth about 5,000,000 J. Then there's the Salamander, Natsu Dragneel, his head should go for about 7,000,000 J. I'm pretty sure Gildarts is on this island too, and he's gotta be worth at least 10,000,000 J. Of course, I couldn't forget Makarov. He'll fetch me a good price, maybe about 25,000,000 Jx." He turned towards me, looking me dead in the eyes, "In fact, I know you. You're Sayume, one of the newest members of Fairy Tail, and an exceed as I can see. I hear the base commission for exceeds is at least 1,000,000 J. Tell you what, I'll start with you, and then move onto the rest of your guild." He removed his hands from his pockets, revealing one large dagger in one, and a set of brass knuckles in the other. "Oh… and there's one more thing. I've got to have a special conversation with my primary target here, Nicholai Kasai, so would you mind telling me where he is?" My fear shifted to anger after hearing this guy's plans, and I couldn't prevent myself from getting really angry, "DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT DOING THAT!" I extended my staff, sending it straight into his stomach. Catching him off guard, the attack sent him flying straight into the cave wall, which is where I held him as I walked closer to deliver my final warning. I wrapped my hand around his throat, picking him up and bringing my face to his, "This is your last warning, leave this island or I will kill you." He merely cracked a smile and started to laugh, "You'll kill me huh?" He then began to easily overcome my grip, bringing his right hand to my elbow and his left one to my wrist. Before I could try to escape his grip, he tightened his grip around my wrist and struck my elbow with his palm, and I felt my arm snap. "AAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!" I felt everything except for the point of breakage go numb, and I let go of the man. I fell to the floor, returning to my normal state, and the man stood over me laughing. "You know, I can never stop myself from laughing," he picked me up by the throat now, "when I find something so weak that is worth so much money. And as a matter of fact," He brought his knife up to my non-broken arm's wrist, lightly slitting it, "I've never tasted exceed blood." He took the blade, licking it clean, "Oh yes… that's divine." I struggled to escape, which only served to make him tighten his grip, "Don't leave now. I was just starting to enjoy myself," He lifted the blade back to my throat now, "but I guess all good things must come to an end. At least there'll be plenty of people in the guild to devour." "N-n." He brought me up to stare him in the face, "Hm? What're you trying to say?" I annunciated, "Nicholai… he won't let you touch anyone. He'd kill you even if it meant him dying too." He laughed again, lowering me from his face and bringing the dagger even closer to my neck, "Oh don't worry, I'll be done before he notices anything. Now, if you please, allow me to check off one hit from my list." I had been trying to stay strong throughout this encounter, despite the pain and fear I felt, but after realizing I was really about to die, and at that, alone, I started to weep. Everything that I had held in poured out, and along with that, I began to cry put for help, "SOMEONE! ANYONE! NICHOLAI! SAM! NATSU! HELP ME!" He now covered my mouth with his hand that had been around my throat, "Now now, didn't I tell you to use your inside voice? Stop whining and I promise this'll be over quick." He lifted the knife up behind him, preparing to thrust it into my chest, and I closed my eyes and cringed.

*****JUMP TO NICHOLAI*

We reached the clearing soon after Sayume flew back to get something, and as I entered the base camp, a giant fist almost instantly crushed me. "And that's your punishment for bringing those who aren't candidates or examiners to the s-class trials." I meekly got up, slightly grinning."Well, at least I wasn't put in time out in Fairy Sphere." All of the examiners, along with those who did and didn't pass the first round were just hanging around wherever. If I was counting correctly, there were six of the eight teams that had made it so far, so there were two teams still fighting each other. Sam and me both climbed up into trees and laid down, enjoying the warm weather despite the fact that it was the middle of December. Soon after, I smelt something pretty strange. Back through the passage Natsu and me had fought in, I could smell two things, Sayume and one other person. What made this particularly strange was the fact that the other person, while clearly still alive, smelt cold and decomposing, like someone who was on the verge of freezing to death. "Sayume's in trouble. I can smell it." I wasn't going to answer Sam's oncoming question, instead, I jumped out of the tree and ran as fast as I could back into the cave. I knew I was tired and worn out, but I needed to get to Sayume. I didn't know how or why this person was here, but I was damn sure going to find out. As I was running, I heard Sayume let out a blood-curdling scream for help, "SOMEONE! ANYONE! NICHOLAI! SAM! NATSU! HELP ME!" I ran even faster now, trying to reach him in time. I saw the opening, along with Sayume and this man who was holding him by the mouth and preparing to kill him. Sayume was crying, his right arm was bleeding badly at the wrist and his other arm was bent the wrong way at the elbow. Without even thinking, I jumped in the path of this man's knife, which deeply penetrated my shoulder. My feet were pushed along the ground as I stopped the attack. The man was shocked, "What the hell? I didn't even see him get in here! Wait… you're Nicholai Kasai. I need to talk to y-" I slapped my palm over his mouth as I used my other hand to pull out the dagger from my shoulder, "Listen here buddy. I don't know who you are, or what you're doing here, but as soon as I find out," I jumped, pushing him back into the wall of the cave and putting the knife against his throat, "I'm goanna fucking kill you." I threw his knife down and moved my hand from his mouth, "You heard me. TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW!" He grinned and laughed at me, "Well, if you're going to kill me anyways, why should I tell you anything?" I requipped my scythe and pinned him against the wall with it in half of a second, "Because if you tell me what I want before I get impatient, I'll end this quickly. If not, I'll tear you limb from limb." He kept a smile on his face, but began explaining anyways, "Well, my name is Anthrax Sanguine, and I am a member of the one and only assassins' guild in Fiore, Semper Shadow, and I am also a hexenbeast, but you probably don't know what that is. I am here to do two things. First, I came here to collect a couple of bucks from the targets in this guild. Second, I needed to speak with you about something." I was losing what little patience I had left, "About what!?" He gave a lazy yawn, "I'm not exactly the best at talking with a blade at my neck." "Go kill yourself," I I swiftly took the blade away from his neck and slammed it back towards him up at eye level, "cut the crap and start talking." "Okay, okay. I was going to ask you to join my guild. We'd been watching you for a while now, starting about eight years ago when news spread of a wizard going from dark guild to dark guild, taking out one or a few targets at a time. Obviousy though, that ship has sailed, but there's still plenty of money to be made here for me." Just as he finished his sentence, his already pale white skin got even whiter, the red color of his irises overtook his eyes, and his teeth elongated and sharpened further. He pushed my scythe away from his face and ran towards Sayume, making me do a 180 to yell to him, "SAYUME! GET OUT OF H-" I didn't even finish my sentence before Anthrax already had Sayume by the neck, "Not another word or move or else Sayume over here gets it." Me and Sayume kept direct eye contact as Anthrax slowly moved them both farther and farther away from me, "Now, here's how this'll work. You're either going to join me and the rest of Semper Shadow after I finish collecting my targets here, or you're going to die along with them." I responded slowly as to ensure that he didn't do anything rash, "Tell me Anthrax. Do you know what it's like to be alone, with no friends, family, or anyone to depend on?" He seemed caught off guard with that question, "I can't say I do." I sighed, "That figures, because if you did, you'd have realized something already." Bewildered, he came back with,"What would I have realized?" I shifted my stance, preparing to dash for him as fast as I could. All of the blazing fury I felt in my heart was condensed into my right fist as I launched myself towards Anthrax. Anthrax was just as fast as me, but my arm dug into his stomach before he could try and snap Sayume's neck. He stood there for a moment, giving me just enough time to grab Sayume and get him away from Anthrax. I set him down, trying to not hurt his broken arm. I turned back around and saw Anthrax getting back to his feet, "Anthrax, you should've know that anyone who has felt the pain of lonliness will do anything to ensure they don't ever feel like that again." I ran towards him once again, igniting both of by fists. I started punching him, letting out my rage; "I'VE LOST EVERYTING BEFORE, AND FOR SIX YEARS I FELT THAT LONLINESS CLAWING AWAY AT MY MIND! NOW I'VE GOT MY FAMILY AND HAPPINESS AGAIN, AND YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT ALL AWAY FORM ME!?" I formed two swords and slashed, stabbed, and cut my way into Anthrax, "THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL I'LL EVER LET YOU DO THAT! IF YOU OR ANY OF YOUR GUILD EVEN THINKS OF COMING CLOSE TO MY FAMILY AGAIN," I formed my wings, grabbing Anthrax and flying up and out of the room, "I'LL DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!" I began to spin him around, preparing to throw him, "Now," I spun even faster, "GET THE HELL OFF OF THIS ISLAND!" I threw him as hard as I could, and he went flying into the ocean, skipping along the surface of the water before sinking, just like a stone. Flying back into the cave, I ran back over to Sayume, who was still whimpering in pain, "Buddy, I know it hurts, but you've gotta hold on. Wendy is already at the camp, she can heal you. Just be sure to stay awake."I picked him up, trying to not touch his broken arm while holding his bleeding one as tight as possible to try and stop the bleeding. I knew I was running towards the camp, but I was too focused on keeping Sayume alive. When I did notice that I had gotten out of the cave and into camp, I immediately screamed for help, "WENDY! WHERE ARE YOU!?" She, along with everyone else who was there, came running when they saaw Sayume. Wendy gasped when she saw Sayume, "W-what happened to him?" I handed him over to her, falling to my knees after she had him in her grasp "I'll explain it later, just please heal him." I looked to Makarov, breathing heavily and sweating, "I… need to hear everything you know… about an assassins guild known as… Semper Shadow." He was just about to answer, but the adreniline that had really been keeping me going up till this point wore off, and I collapsed.

* * *

**Me: That went bad pretty fast, and who the hell is Semper Shadow?**

**Nicholai: A bunch of pretentious assholes who think they can mess with us, that's who.**

**Sayume: Nicholai, didn't you pass out?**

**Sam: Weren't you bleeding out?**

**Sayume: Fair point**

**Me: Well, I don't see this going anywhere, so I'm gonna end the chapter. Again, no updates for a while once again, so bai readers!**


End file.
